Japan
Ginkgo trees are seen behind of Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Stadium at an area known as Jingu Gaien Friday, May 12, 2023, in Tokyo. Building new sports facilities is at the heart of a disputed plan to makeover one of Tokyo most beloved park areas. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is at the center of controversy, as she was in promoting the recent Tokyo Olympics. The redevelopment of the park area known as Jingu Gaien raises questions about who decides how public space is to be used. (AP Photo/Stephen Wade)
Dispute centered around redevelopment of historic Tokyo park, iconic stadiums

By Stephen Wade May. 17, 2023 01:23 AM EDT

Members of the Geneva branch of Ukrainian society in Switzerland protest during a rally to urge International Olympic Committee to reconsider their decision of participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under white neutral flag at the next 2024 Paris Olympic Games, in front of the IOC headquarters, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Saturday, March 25, 2023. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
No Russians, Belarusians expected at swimming worlds in July

Apr. 05, 2023 11:10 AM EDT

FILE - The Olympic rings are set up at Trocadero plaza that overlooks the Eiffel Tower, a day after the official announcement that the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be in the French capital, in Paris, France, on Sept. 14, 2017. One year after the invasion of Ukraine began, Russia's reintegration into the world of sports threatens to create the biggest rift in the Olympic movement since the Cold War.(AP Photo//Michel Euler, File)
Russia's sports exile persists 1 year after invading Ukraine

By The Associated Press Feb. 22, 2023 09:25 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, the Olympic rings are reinstalled after it was taken down for maintenance ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. A senior official with the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee and three company executives were arrested Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, in an ongoing bid-rigging scandal related to the Games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Tokyo Olympic official, 3 others held in bid-rigging probe

By Yuri Kageyama Feb. 08, 2023 02:17 AM EST

FILE - Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, competes in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. he World Anti-Doping Agency says a Russian tribunal has found figure skater Kamila Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” in a doping case that rocked last year’s Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
US Figure Skating blasts delay in awarding of Beijing medals

By Dave Skretta Feb. 02, 2023 01:06 PM EST

FILE - Workers prepare to remove giant Olympic rings from the waterfront area at Odaiba Marine Park after 2020 Summer Olympics came to an end on Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. A Japanese company embroiled in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic corruption scandal said Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023, it would strengthen oversight to prevent further wrongdoing. (Kim Kyung-hoon/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Tokyo Olympic bribery scandal rolls on; company apologizes

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade Feb. 02, 2023 04:33 AM EST

Bucha relatives gather to mourn the body of Oleksiy Zavadskyi, a Ukrainian serviceman who died in combat on January 15 in Bakhmut, during his funeral in Bucha, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Russia issue looms for Paris Olympics, Zelenskyy rebukes IOC

By Graham Dunbar Jan. 28, 2023 09:36 AM EST

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2020, file photo, the Olympic rings are reinstalled after it was taken down for maintenance ahead of the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics in the Odaiba section in Tokyo. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee is encouraging individual sports to consider “category qualifiers” — classified in some sports as “open” categories — to ensure transgender athletes will have events to participate in once they reach puberty. The USOPC finalized its two-page “position paper” at its board meeting earlier this month and released it Monday, Dec. 19, 2022, addressing a proposed path forward for transgender participation in sports. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Audit finds Tokyo Olympic costs 20% higher than announced

By Stephen Wade Dec. 22, 2022 05:01 AM EST

Red Sox sign Japanese batting champ Masataka Yoshida

By Jimmy Golen Dec. 15, 2022 05:35 PM EST
BOSTON (AP) — Former Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka passed along some advice to Masataka Yoshida, another Japanese star who made the trip to Fenway Park. ...

A building which houses the headquarters of major advertising company Dentsu is pictured in Tokyo Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. Japanese prosecutors raided the headquarters of Dentsu Friday, as the investigation into corruption related to the Tokyo Olympics widened. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japan investigators raid Dentsu in widening Olympic probe

By Yuri Kageyama Nov. 25, 2022 12:18 AM EST

FILE- San Diego Padres relief pitcher Nick Martinez throws during the eighth inning in Game 1 of the baseball NL Championship Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Oct. 18, 2022, in San Diego. Martinez and the Padres finalized a $26 million, three-year contract for the pitcher to remain with San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
Nick Martinez, Padres finalize $26 million, 3-year contract

Nov. 22, 2022 08:46 PM EST

Jordan Chiles of the U.S. competes in the vault finals during the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Jade Carey adds to medal haul at worlds with vault gold

Nov. 05, 2022 03:52 PM EDT

Daiki Hashimoto of Japan competes on the parallel bars at the Men's All-Around Final during the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England, Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Hashimoto adds world championship to go with Olympic gold

Nov. 04, 2022 05:48 PM EDT

China tops Japan at sloppy men's gymnastics championships

Nov. 02, 2022 07:30 PM EDT
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — China won its 12th world men's gymnastics championship on Wednesday, putting together six solid if not always spectacular rotations to...

U.S. women earn record sixth straight world gymnastics title

Nov. 01, 2022 05:26 PM EDT
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — A pair of falls on the balance beam in qualifying cost Jordan Chiles a shot at the world all-around gymnastics title. She's...

Athletes check the venue prior to the women's and men's lead semi-final of the IFSC Climbing World Cup Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. After Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi joined a growing list of female athletes who have been targeted by their governments for defying authoritarian policies or acting out against bullying, a number of others have spoken out on their concerns of politics crossing into their sporting world. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Iran's Rekabi latest female athlete at risk in home country

By Stephen Wade Oct. 21, 2022 11:59 AM EDT

FILE - Ilia Malinin competes in the men's short program during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn. All eyes will be on 17-year-old Ilia Malinin when he makes his senior Grand Prix debut at Skate America this weekend. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski, File)
Malinin headlines Grand Prix opener at Skate America

By Dave Skretta Oct. 20, 2022 01:38 PM EDT

Kadokawa Corp. Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sept. 5, 2022. Kadokawa was charged Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 with bribing a former Tokyo Olympics organizing committee member. (Kyodo News via AP)
Bribes scandal continues to sully Tokyo Olympic legacy

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade Oct. 19, 2022 01:08 AM EDT

Kadokawa Corp. Chairman Tsuguhiko Kadokawa speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Sept. 5, 2022. Kadokawa was charged Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022 with bribing a former Tokyo Olympics organizing committee member. (Kyodo News via AP)
Publishing executive charged in Tokyo Olympic bribes scandal

By Yuri Kageyama Oct. 04, 2022 03:34 AM EDT

FILE - Haruyuki Takahashi, executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games attends the Tokyo 2020 Executive Board Meeting in Tokyo on March 30, 2020. Criminal allegations against a former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee board member widened Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, as Japanese prosecutors “re-arrested” Takahashi in suspected payments from a publisher that became a sponsor for the Games. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Tokyo Olympics bribery arrests widens to third Japan sponsor

By Yuri Kageyama Sep. 27, 2022 04:30 AM EDT