Georgia Olympic Team
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, center, speaks with young athletes at the Olympics Unleashed session at the Yeronga Park Sports Centre in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday, May 7, 2022. Bach was in Brisbane on Saturday for the first time since the Queensland state capital was awarded the 2032 Olympics. (Jason O'Brien/AAP Image via AP)
Bach says Russia ban is to protect athletes, not punish them

By Graham Dunbar May. 20, 2022 09:08 AM EDT

FILE - Russian curler Alexander Krushelnitsky practices ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea on Feb. 7, 2018. Krushelnitsky failed a drug test and lost a bronze medal and was banned four years. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
Recent Russian doping controversies at the Olympics

Feb. 18, 2022 09:07 AM EST

Eteri Tutberidze coach of Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, watches her train at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Russian coach produces teen skating stars with short careers

By James Ellingworth Feb. 12, 2022 03:12 AM EST

Johannes Ludwig, of Germany, prepares for the during the luge men's single round 3 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Luge's new king: Germany's Johannes Ludwig wins Olympic gold

By Tim Reynolds Feb. 06, 2022 09:06 AM EST

FILE - Finland's Leo Komarov speaks with referees during the Channel One Cup ice hockey match between Russia and Finland in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021. Leo Komarov is expected to play for Finland at the Olympics after the NHL decided not to send players to Beijing. Komarov played in the NHL as recently as October, and he and the New York Islanders agreed to mutually terminate his contract in November.(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Olympics Live: US diplomat says human rights should be focus

Feb. 05, 2022 09:23 PM EST

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with members of Russia's national team ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, via a videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
With tensions high, Russia aims for Olympic gold in Beijing

By James Ellingworth Jan. 28, 2022 07:30 AM EST

FILE -David Kumaritashvili, father of the Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili killed during a training run at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, stands at the grave of his son Friday, Jan. 17, 2014 in Bakuriani, Georgia. Saba Kumaritashvili will compete in luge next month at the Beijing Olympics, 12 years after his cousin Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training accident at the Vancouver Games. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov, File)
For Nodar: Georgian luge family makes a return to Olympics

By Tim Reynolds Jan. 26, 2022 02:29 AM EST

United States' players celebrate after their win in the men's basketball gold medal game against France at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
US draws Mexico, Cuba, Puerto Rico for World Cup qualifying

By Tim Reynolds Aug. 31, 2021 08:31 AM EDT

FILE - Tucker West, of the United States, celebrates his second place finish after his second run of a men's World Cup luge event in Lake Placid, N.Y., in this Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, file photo. Luge’s governing body took upcoming World Cup races away from the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, citing ongoing difficulties in getting foreign athletes into and out of the North American countries during the pandemic. The planned World Cup stops in Whistler, British Columbia, and Lake Placid, New York, will now both be held at the 2014 Sochi Olympic track in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.(AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)
Luge moves Lake Placid, Whistler World Cup races to Russia

By Tim Reynolds Aug. 31, 2021 06:33 AM EDT

FILE In this file photo taken from video, Belarus Olympic sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya speaks during a zoom interview with the Associated Press in Japan, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021. A feud between Tsimanouskaya and team officials that prompted her to seek refuge in Poland has again cast a spotlight on the repressive environment in the ex-Soviet nation, where authorities have unleashed a relentless crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin, File)
EXPLAINER: What happens when Olympics and politics collide?

By Graham Dunbar Aug. 04, 2021 04:11 AM EDT

Katarina Johnson-Thompson, of Britain, reacts after falling during a heat in the heptathlon women's 200-meter at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Olympics Latest: World champ Dutch out in women's handball

Aug. 03, 2021 07:59 PM EDT

Germany's Aline Rotter Focken celebrates defeating United States Adeline Maria Gray during the women's 76kg freestyle wrestling final match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 2, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Olympics Latest: Krajewski wins individual eventing gold

Aug. 01, 2021 08:49 PM EDT

Anton Borodachev of the Russian Olympic Committee, left, and Erwann Le Pechoux of France compete in the men's Foil team final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Chiba, Japan. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Olympics Latest: Belarus runner says team forcing departure

Jul. 31, 2021 09:18 PM EDT

Alexandre Ponomarev, the chief interpreter for the Tokyo Games, gestures during an interview with The Associated Press at the main press center during the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Ponomarev worked his first Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, and took over as the chief in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He said his mother got him started with language-learning, smuggling DVDs of American films into the old Soviet Union. One by one, the languages piled up.(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Si, Oui, Hai: Interpreting joy and heartbreak at Tokyo Games

By Stephen Wade Jul. 30, 2021 11:44 PM EDT

Jiri Liptak, of Czech Republic, competes in the men's trap at the Asaka Shooting Range in the 2020 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 29, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Olympics Latest: US women's volleyball reaches quarterfinals

Jul. 28, 2021 08:36 PM EDT

German coach Claudiu Pusa watch from the side during the women -70kg bronze medal judo match at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)
Olympics Latest: Latvia wins gold in men's 3-on-3

Jul. 27, 2021 08:40 PM EDT

Hidilyn Diaz of Philippines celebrates as she competes and sets new world record and won the gold medal in the women's 55kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Olympics Latest: Japan upsets China in table tennis

Jul. 25, 2021 08:45 PM EDT

William Shaner, of the United States, competes in the men's 10-meter air rifle at the Asaka Shooting Range in the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Batsarashkina backs up silver in Rio with gold in Tokyo

By John Marshall Jul. 25, 2021 04:26 AM EDT

Simone Biles, of United States, performs her floor exercise routine during the women's artistic gymnastic qualifications at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Olympics Latest: Rashitov wins taekwondo gold at Tokyo Games

Jul. 24, 2021 08:59 PM EDT

Gold medalist, Hou Zhihui of China, center, stands with silver medalist Mirabai Chanu Saikhom of India, left, and bronze medalist Windy Cantica Aisah of Indonesia, right, after the women's 49kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 24, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
1st woman in Olympic weightlifting still raising the bar

By James Ellingworth Jul. 24, 2021 01:44 AM EDT