Norway
FILE -Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan soars through the air during his second trial jump at the third stage of the 70th Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Even World-class athletes who compete in ski jumping and a former Olympian paid to analyze the sport have no idea who will win gold in Beijing. Defending Olympic champion Kamil Stoch has an injured left leg that is knocking him out of World Cup competition this week in his native Poland and puts his status for the 2022 Winter Olympics up in the air. Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi is the world's top-ranked ski jumper. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Japan’s Kobayashi among favorites in wide-open ski jumping

By Larry Lage Jan. 14, 2022 12:14 PM EST

FILE -Jarl Magnus Riiber of Norway celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the men's Individual Gundersen NH 15km triple competition at the Nordic Combined World Cup in the Austrian province of Tyrol, in Seefeld, Austria, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. Norway’s Jarl Magnus Riiber has been so dominant in World Cup competitions that other Nordic combined athletes are trying to study how he soars past the competition in ski jumping so much so that he has a huge lead in cross-country skiing. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Norway’s Riiber dominant soaring, skiing into 2022 Olympics

By Larry Lage Jan. 13, 2022 12:27 PM EST

FILE - United States skip Tabitha Peterson makes a shot against Sweden in the bronze medal final at the women's world curling championship in Calgary, Alberta, Sunday, May 9, 2021. Tabitha Peterson is heading to her second straight Olympics — her first as the skip of the U.S. women’s team. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
Gold means confidence, less pressure for US curler Shuster

By Jimmy Golen Jan. 11, 2022 02:14 PM EST

FILE - Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, right, and Finland's Iivo Niskanen compete in the men's mass start 15km classic cross-country event at the FIS Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Trento, Italy, Jan. 3, 2022. Klaebo was a rising star when he won three gold medals at PyeongChang. He has dominated the World Cup this season and will be back to defend his Olympic titles. Klaebo's teammates, Erik Valnes and Pål Golberg, will likely be in the mix. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta, File)
Olympic cross-country preview: US eager to build on success

By Martha Bellisle Jan. 11, 2022 11:33 AM EST

FILE - Athletes shoot during the men's 12.5 km pursuit race at the Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, Dec. 11, 2021. A flurry of retirements since the 2018 Winter Games has left only a few to defend their Olympic biathlon titles, while a host of talented racers have shown promise this season, making predictions for Beijing success nearly impossible. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Biathlon retirements mean new hopefuls take aim at Olympics

By Martha Bellisle Jan. 10, 2022 02:40 AM EST

Staff members hold up medals as they rehearse a victory ceremony at the Beijing Medals Plaza of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China on Jan. 3, 2022. The Beijing Winter Olympics open in 30 days, and Norway is expected to head the medal table for the second straight time, even topping its record haul of 39 medals in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This is the prediction of U.S.-based Gracenote Sports, which released its outlook on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022 with the Olympics opening on Feb. 4. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Look for Norway to top medal table again at Winter Olympics

By Stephen Wade Jan. 05, 2022 12:11 AM EST

FILE - Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia competes during the women's 10 km free style race at the Davos Nordic FIS Cross Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on Dec. 16, 2018. The 2022 Olympics is just weeks away with China a more problematic host than expected for a Winter Games that had once seemed destined for Europe. The past weekend of World Cup ski events in two upscale Swiss towns that wanted to stage these Olympics showed what might have been. Games in snow-covered resorts with decades of winter sports tradition and without diplomatic boycotts or talk of human rights records. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP, File)
Swiss ski resorts show what 2022 Olympics could have been

By Graham Dunbar Dec. 13, 2021 07:10 AM EST

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud crashes during a men's World Cup super-G skiing race Friday, Dec. 3, 2021, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Former Olympic skiing champ Jansrud injured, to miss Beijing

Dec. 08, 2021 11:57 AM EST

FILE - Participants wave flags with the logos of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics before a launch ceremony to reveal the motto for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing on Sept. 17, 2021. The Beijing Winter Olympics open in just under two months and are now the target to a diplomatic boycott by the United States with others likely to follow. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
EXPLAINER: Why does Beijing have the Olympics again?

By Stephen Wade Dec. 06, 2021 09:05 PM EST

Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, center, celebrates a first place finish while posing with second-place finisher Austria's Matthias Mayer, left, and third-place finisher Switzerland's Beat Feuz after a men's World Cup downhill ski race Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Kilde captures World Cup downhill for 2nd straight win

By Pat Graham Dec. 04, 2021 03:49 PM EST

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud competes during a men's World Cup super-G skiing race Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Norway's Jansrud hurts knee in crash, needs more evaluation

By Pat Graham Dec. 04, 2021 09:52 AM EST

Kunlun Red Star's Parker Foo, left, and Avangard's Arseny Gritsyuk battle for the puck during the Kontinental Hockey League ice hockey match between Kunlun Red Star Beijing and Avangard Omsk in Mytishchi, outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Chinese hockey team loses another game in test for Olympics

Nov. 17, 2021 02:10 PM EST

Bikini rule changed in beach handball after player protest

Nov. 01, 2021 11:54 AM EDT
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Bikini-style uniforms will no longer be mandated for female beach handball players following protests by players and European...

France's team players celebrate as they won the women's gold medal handball match between the Russian Olympic Committee and France at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
France beats Russian team to win women's handball gold

By James Ellingworth Aug. 08, 2021 04:13 AM EDT

Christian Sandlie Sorum, of Norway, jumps as he celebrates winning a men's beach volleyball Gold Medal match against the Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Norway men beat Russia for beach v'ball gold; Qatar bronze

By Jimmy Golen Aug. 06, 2021 10:40 PM EDT

France's Nikola Karabatic makes a shot during the men's gold medal handball match between France and Denmark at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
Olympic Latest: France earns gold for 1st volleyball medal

Aug. 06, 2021 07:41 PM EDT

Sweden's Linn Blohm, right, tries to block a shot of France's Grace Zaadi Deuna during the women's semifinal handball match between France and Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Russia to play France for women's handball gold at Olympics

Aug. 06, 2021 10:06 AM EDT

United State's Gable Dan Steveson celebrates after defeating Georgia's Gennadij Cudinovic during their men's freestyle 125kg wrestling final match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Olympic Latest: Canada wins 1st gold in women's soccer

Aug. 05, 2021 08:36 PM EDT

Viacheslav Krasilnikov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, lays on the sand after winning a men's beach volleyball semifinal match against Qatar at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
New in Norway: Mol, Sorum ensure a medal in beach volleyball

By Jimmy Golen Aug. 05, 2021 11:19 AM EDT

United States' Eddy Alvarez, front, and Nick Allen embrace after a semi-final baseball game against South Korea at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan. The United States won 7-2. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Olympics Latest: China women win table tennis again

Aug. 04, 2021 08:33 PM EDT