Japan government
FILE - Yasuhiro Yamashita, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee, poses for photographers prior to a press conference Monday, June 28, 2021, in Tokyo, ahead of the opening of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on July 23. Japan announced Friday, Dec. 24, 2021, it won't send a delegation of ministers to represent the government at the Beijing Games but three Olympic officials will attend, a mixed response to a U.S.-led move to boycott the games to protest China's human rights conditions. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee President Seiko Hashimoto, Kazuyuki Mori, the president of the Japan Paralympic Committee, and Yamashita will attend. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Japan won't send government delegation to Beijing Olympics

By Mari Yamaguchi Dec. 23, 2021 11:39 PM EST

FILE - Fireworks illuminate over National Stadium during the closing ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Aug. 8, 2021, in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers on Wednesday, Dec. 22 say the cost of the Games is estimated to be $1.8 billion less than anticipated. Official estimates over the last year said the costs would be $15.4 billion, and organizers now say that number is estimated to be $13.6 billion. Officials said the reduction in costs was because there were no fans and therefore no labor costs. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, file)
Organizers say Tokyo Olympics cost $1.8B less than expected

By Stephen Wade Dec. 22, 2021 09:05 AM EST

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian invites questions during a press conference in Beijing, China, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021. China on Tuesday accused the United States of violating the Olympic spirit by announcing an American diplomatic boycott of February's Beijing Winter Games. (AP Photo/Liu Zheng)
China says US diplomatic boycott violates Olympic spirit

Dec. 07, 2021 02:55 AM EST

Figure skating Grand Prix Final canceled over travel rules

Dec. 02, 2021 04:17 AM EST
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The figure skating Grand Prix Final next week has been canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic for the second season in a row...

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, the Olympic Symbol is reinstalled after it was taken down for maintenance ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. U.S. athletes trying to make the Winter Olympics will have to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 under a groundbreaking new policy announced Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021 by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Tokyo Games CEO: Official costs known early next year

By Stephen Wade Sep. 28, 2021 08:55 AM EDT

Dancers perform during the closing ceremony for the 2020 Paralympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Sunday, Sept. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Paralympic closing marks end of Tokyo's 8-year Olympic saga

By Stephen Wade Sep. 05, 2021 08:31 AM EDT

Dong Lu, from China, competes at Women's 100m Freestyle - S5 Heat 2 at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
IOC's Bach defended over return to Tokyo for Paralympics

By Stephen Wade Aug. 26, 2021 01:15 AM EDT

Matt Stutzman, center, of the U.S. answers media questions at a news conference ahead of the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Aug. 22, 2021. (Josh Toth for OIS via AP)
Tokyo Paralympics press ahead to allow students to attend

By Stephen Wade And Mari Yamaguchi Aug. 22, 2021 05:22 AM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 13 2019, file photo, Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas, right, of Finland passes Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany at the start of the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka, central Japan. The 2021 Japanese Grand Prix has been canceled following discussions between the government and race promoters, Formula One organizers said Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021.(AP Photo/Toru Hanai, File)
Japanese GP canceled because of coronavirus pandemic

Aug. 18, 2021 04:47 AM EDT

A woman wearing a face mask to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus walks under the scorching sun Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japan leader's medical adviser urges tougher virus measures

By Mari Yamaguchi Aug. 12, 2021 08:09 AM EDT

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga delivers a speech during a ceremony at Nagasaki Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan Monday, Aug. 9, 2021. The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Monday marked its 76th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japan's PM thanks people for safe Olympics during pandemic

By Mari Yamaguchi Aug. 09, 2021 03:49 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 27, 2021, file photo, people walk past the National Stadium in Tokyo. The price tag for the Tokyo Olympics is $15.4 billion. Tokyo built eight new venues. The two most expensive were the National Stadium, which cost $1.43 billion, and the new aquatic center, priced a $520 million. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Tokyo Olympics cost $15.4 billion. What else could that buy?

By Stephen Wade Aug. 06, 2021 10:11 PM EDT

In this image made from video provided by NTV, Belarus Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya enters the Polish embassy in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. Tsimanouskaya plans to seek asylum in Poland, an activist group said Monday, after the athlete alleged that her team’s officials tried to force her to fly home, where she feared she wouldn’t be safe from an autocratic government that recently was accused of diverting a plane in order to arrest a dissident journalist. (NTV via AP)
Poland grants visa to Belarus Olympian who fears for safety

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 02, 2021 05:08 AM EDT

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, of Belarus, runs in the women's 100-meter run at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021. Tsimanouskaya alleged her Olympic team tried to remove her from Japan in a dispute that led to a standoff Sunday, Aug. 1, at Tokyo’s main airport. An activist group supporting Tsimanouskaya said she believed her life was in danger in Belarus and would seek asylum with the Austrian embassy in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Japan: Belarus runner involved in airport standoff is safe

By Graham Dunbar And Daniel Kozin Aug. 01, 2021 12:00 PM EDT

People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk across a shopping alley near Ueno Station in Tokyo Friday, July 30, 2021. Japan is set to expand the coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo to neighboring areas and the western city of Osaka on Friday in the wake of a record-breaking surge in infections while the capital hosts the Olympics. (AP Photo/Kantaro Komiya)
EXPLAINER: Detailing Japan's new COVID state of emergency

By Yuri Kageyama Jul. 30, 2021 03:25 AM EDT

People wearing face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus walk past extra papers reporting on Japanese gold medalists at Tokyo Olympics, in Tokyo Tuesday, July 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Tokyo reports record virus cases days after Olympics begin

By Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 27, 2021 08:29 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 13, 2021, file photo, a delivery man pushes a cart full of packages as he passes by a business with Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics posters displayed on the windows in Tokyo. How are we to judge the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics when they wrap up in two weeks? It's a straightforward question but it's difficult to answer. That's because there are many interests involved. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Tokyo Olympics: A success? A failure? And how to judge?

By Stephen Wade Jul. 26, 2021 02:00 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 12, 2021, file commuters wearing face masks walk in a passageway during a rush hour at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. Tokyo recorded 1,979 new COVID-19 cases Thursday, hitting a new six-month high one day before the Olympics are to begin amid growing worry about the worsening infections during the games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
In venue fit for head of state, Japan PM seeks Pfizer doses

By Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 23, 2021 02:20 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 17, 2021, file photo, banners with the words "I still have the support of 50 million Korean people," are removed from balconies at the the Olympic athletes' village in Tokyo. South Korea removed the banners that the IOC ruled to be provocative, Seoul said it received an IOC promise that the displaying of the “rising sun” flag would also be banned at stadiums and other Olympic venues. (Jin Sung-chul/Yonhap via AP, File)
EXPLAINER: Why Japan 'rising sun' flag provokes Olympic ire

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 22, 2021 08:42 PM EDT

This undated photo released by Tokyo 2020 shows Kentaro Kobayashi, a key director of Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony. The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee dismissed the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday, July 22, 2021 because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. (©Tokyo 2020 via AP)
Olympic opening ceremony director fired for Holocaust joke

By Mari Yamaguchi Jul. 21, 2021 11:18 PM EDT