Human rights and civil liberties
Rutgers hires Nikki McCray-Penson as assistant hoops coach

Jun. 28, 2022 01:08 PM EDT
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Rutgers has hired former Tennessee star Nikki McCray-Penson as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team. Scarlet...

FILE - Daniel Sedin, right, and Henrik Sedin pose with the King Clancy Memorial Trophy after winning the award at the NHL Awards, Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Las Vegas. Swedes Henrik and Daniel Sedin and Daniel Alfredsson have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Goaltender Roberto Luongo, Finnish women’s star Riikka Sallinen and builder Herb Carnegie were also selected Monday, June 27, 2022, to be inducted in November. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Swede Day: Alfredsson, Sedins elected to Hockey Hall of Fame

By Stephen Whyno Jun. 27, 2022 06:02 PM EDT

In a photo provided by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, Michelle Kwan arrives for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Colorado Springs, Colo., Friday, June 24, 2022. (Mark Reis/U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee via AP)
Vonn urges athletes use platform for good 'especially today'

By Eddie Pells Jun. 24, 2022 11:12 PM EDT

On Title IX's 50th, USOPC seeks accord on transgender policy

By Eddie Pells Jun. 23, 2022 05:56 PM EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The biggest gathering of the year for U.S. Olympic policymakers fell on Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Not surprisingly,...

FILE - University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas prepares for the 500 meter freestyle at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. World swimming’s governing body has adopted new rules for transgender athletes, only permitting swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. FINA members voted 71.5% in favor of the new “gender inclusion policy” at the organization’s extraordinary general congress on Sunday, June 19, 2022. Thomas made history in the United States as the first transgender woman to win an NCAA swimming championship. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: FINA ban casts storm clouds on transgender athletes

By Paul Newberry Jun. 20, 2022 06:51 PM EDT

FILE - Head coach for the ECHL's Gwinnett Gladiators, John Wroblewski, right, conducts practice for the team in what used to be the practice facility for the Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2011 in Duluth, Ga. John Wroblewski was named the head coach of the U.S. national women’s hockey team on Tuesday, May 31, 2022 after recent success guiding the men’s development program.(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
John Wroblewski takes over as US women's hockey head coach

By John Wawrow May. 31, 2022 04:19 PM EDT

FILE - Former members and members of the U.S. Women's National soccer team, from left, Briana Scurry, Margaret 'Midge' Purce, Kelley O'Hara, Julie Foudy, and Cindy Parlow Cone, President of U.S. Soccer, pose for a photo with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., before an event to celebrate Equal Pay Day and Women's History Month in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, March 15, 2022, in Washington. The U.S. Soccer Federation reached milestone agreements to pay its men's and women's teams equally, making the American national governing body the first in the sport to promise both sexes matching money. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
ATP Challenger Roseto Degli Abruzzi 2, Italy Men Singles

May. 21, 2022 02:44 AM EDT

FILE - Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry makes a save late in the second half against the Carolina Courage, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2002, in Cary, N.C. The U.S. women's national team has not only been wildly successful on the field, the players have also been unabashedly outspoken, using their platform to advocate for equal rights for themselves and others. (AP Photo/Stan Gilliland, File)
US women's soccer equal pay victory decades in the making

By Anne M. Peterson May. 21, 2022 02:43 AM EDT

Ukraine team members climb on the Olympic Rings to pose for photo in the Olympic Village at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. Backers of Sapporo, Japan, to hold the 2030 Winter Olympics have gotten together to promote their bid. The Japanese city is competing with Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and a Spanish group that wants to return the Olympics to Barcelona. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
All-Japan committee meets to promote Sapporo Olympic bid

By Stephen Wade And Yuri Kageyama May. 10, 2022 02:41 AM EDT

Russian seeks to keep senior role at skating federation

By Graham Dunbar Apr. 27, 2022 01:14 PM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — A Russian official was among the candidates announced Wednesday for the International Skating Union’s elections in June, if he is allowed to stand to...

FILE - A silhouette of a snowboarder in action in a heat during the FIS World Cup snowboarding big air competition at the Battersea Power Station in London, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008. When former members of the U.S. snowboarding team sought to report sex-abuse allegations against a longtime coach, they received conflicting information that left them unsure of where to turn — or whether they wanted to pursue the cases at all. (AP Photo/Sang Tan, File)
Sex abuse case in snowboarding exposes flaws in reporting

By Eddie Pells Apr. 14, 2022 12:50 PM EDT

USA Bobsled coach Mike Kohn resigns, citing family reasons

By Tim Reynolds Apr. 08, 2022 04:54 PM EDT
USA Bobsled coach Mike Kohn has stepped down after four seasons, though he may remain with the national team in a different capacity. Kohn, an Olympic...

FILE - The American 4x100 women's medley relay team celebrate on the pool deck after they won the gold medal at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia, Friday, Jan. 16, 1998. From left, Jenny Thompson, Lea Maurer, Amy Van Dyken and Kristy Kowal. Two-time Olympic medalist Maurer was named head coach of Southern California’s men’s and women’s swimming teams Friday, April 1, 2022, making her the first woman to lead both programs. (AP Photo/Steve Holland, File)
Lea Maurer becomes 1st woman to lead USC swim programs

Apr. 01, 2022 02:35 PM EDT

Maryland hires Skinn as assistant for Willard's staff

Mar. 24, 2022 05:55 PM EDT
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Maryland hired Tony Skinn as an assistant for new basketball coach Kevin Willard's staff. The school announced the move...

University of Pennsylvania transgender athlete Lia Thomas competes in the 500-yard freestyle finals at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Thursday, March 17, 2022, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Column: Lia Thomas sparks all sorts of conflicting thoughts

By Paul Newberry Mar. 18, 2022 04:34 PM EDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the launch of a new ferry via a conference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 4, 2022. (Andrei Gorshkov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Column: Russian sports ban unlikely to stop Putin's war

By Paul Newberry Mar. 04, 2022 05:03 PM EST

A screen shows support to Ukraine before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Russia ready again for urgent court case over World Cup ban

By Graham Dunbar Mar. 04, 2022 12:40 AM EST

FILE - FIFA President Gianni Infantino, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for cameras at the FIFA congress on the eve of the opener of the 2018 soccer World Cup in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, June 13, 2018. In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country's athletes and officials from international events. The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
COLUMN: Will sports ever stop cozying up to strongmen?

By Jim Litke Mar. 03, 2022 07:05 PM EST

FILE- Nils van der Poel of Sweden reacts after breaking his own world record in the men's speedskating 10,000-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in Beijing. Back in Sweden with his two gold medals in speedskating, the speedskater told the Aftonbladet newspaper that although he had “a very nice experience behind the scenes,” hosting the Games in China was “terrible.” He drew parallels with the 1936 Summer Olympics in Nazi Germany and Russia hosting the Sochi Olympics before seizing control of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Swedish Olympic champion gives medal to man held in China

Feb. 25, 2022 08:41 AM EST

A child plays with a red scarf near a decoration for the Beijing Winter Olympics Games in front of the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Jan. 18, 2022. The just-concluded Winter Olympics weren’t China's big event of the year, internally, at least. For the Communist Party, that comes this fall at a major meeting that will likely cement Xi Jinping's position as one of the nation's most powerful leaders in its seven decades of Communist rule. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
For Chinese leaders, Olympics weren't 2022's big-ticket item

By Ken Moritsugu Feb. 21, 2022 09:19 PM EST