International relations
FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2020, file photo, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland listens during a briefing with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and Los Angeles 2028 organizers in Beverly Hills, Calif. At their keynote addresses at this week's annual assembly of U.S. athletes and administrators, both CEO Sarah Hirshland and chair Susanne Lyons said the federation's top-line priority for the upcoming year is on athlete excellence and expanding revenue. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Tensions sparking change in US Olympic world, but how much?

By Eddie Pells Jun. 24, 2022 03:26 PM EDT

U.S. hockey player Haley Skarupa, front, demonstrates a drill during a hockey clinic presented by the Washington Capitals and the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, Friday, March 4, 2022, in Arlington, Va. The growth of girls and women's hockey in the Washington area is still a work in progress almost two decades into a boom of youth participation in the sport credited to Alex Ovechkin and the NHL's Capitals.(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
Girls hockey programs show promise in nontraditional markets

By Stephen Whyno Apr. 28, 2022 03:06 PM EDT

FILE - International Olympic Committee member Alex Gilady of Israel appears during a IOC-Tokyo 2020 1st Project Review session in Tokyo on April 3, 2014. An International Olympic Committee member from Israel who also previously served as a senior vice president of NBC Sports has died. Alex Gilady was 79. The IOC announced Gilady’s death. IOC member John Coates of Australia said Gilady died Wednesday in London. No cause of death was given. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File)
Alex Gilady, Israeli Olympic Committee member, dies at 79

Apr. 14, 2022 05:17 AM EDT

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, greets International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach at an event welcoming IOC members ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics at the Rus Hotel, Feb. 4, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. The International Olympic Committee has always been political, from the sheikhs and royals in its membership to a seat at the United Nations to pushing for peace talks between the Koreas. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine three weeks ago exposed its irreconcilable claims of “political neutrality.” (AP Photo/David Goldman, Pool, File)
Russia invasion upends Olympic 'neutrality' — if it existed

By Stephen Wade Mar. 15, 2022 12:07 AM EDT

FILE - In this frame from video, Vladyslav Heraskevych, of Ukraine, holds a sign that reads "No War in Ukraine" after finishing a run at the men's skeleton competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 11, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (NBC via AP, File)
Ukraine athletes defend country, demand sanctions for Russia

By Eddie Pells Feb. 27, 2022 01:13 PM EST

The North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)
BEIJING SNAPSHOT: N. Korea not at Games but diplomat remains

By Dake Kang Feb. 17, 2022 05:28 AM EST

Ukraine's Oleksandr Abramenko competes during the men's aerials finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Ukrainian and Russian celebrate with hug at Beijing Olympics

Feb. 16, 2022 09:59 AM EST

A house stands in the shadow of snow-capped mountains in predominantly-Tibetan Garze county in southwestern China's Sichuan province, on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Ahead of the Beijing summer Olympics 14 years ago, Tibet was on fire. Deadly clashes between Tibetans and security forces in Lhasa made global headlines, and for weeks, monks and herders battled bullets and batons. But today, Tibet has fallen silent, even as the Olympic games come to Beijing for a second time. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)
This time, Tibet stands silent as Olympics return to China

By Dake Kang And Sam Mcneil Feb. 16, 2022 12:08 AM EST

United States' Matt Knies celebrates a goal during a preliminary round men's hockey game against Germany at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
US beats Germany, earns top seed in Olympics knockout round

By Stephen Whyno Feb. 13, 2022 06:53 AM EST

Hwang Dae-heon of South Korea celebrates after winning his men's 1500-meters final during the short track speedskating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, in Beijing. South Korea was angered by the disqualifications of two of its short-track speedskaters, including Hwang, in the semifinals of the 1,000 meters speedskating at the Beijing Games this week. A protest was filed and South Koreans online called for the team to withdraw in protest. Instead, they stayed, and Hwang won gold in the men's 1,500 meters. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Behind China-South Korea skating row, a deeper cultural rift

By Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 11, 2022 09:42 PM EST

FILE - United States' Jake Sanderson, from left, Tanner Dickinson and Chaz Lucius celebrate a goal against Finland during the first period of an exhibition game in Edmonton, Alberta, Dec. 23, 2021, before the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship tournament. Sanderson, who plays hockey for the University of North Dakota, was named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic team after the NHL announced it was not sending players to the Olympics. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP, File)
After COVID 'nightmare,' Sanderson joins US at Olympics

By Stephen Whyno Feb. 11, 2022 06:08 AM EST

FILE- A man walks by the Russian Olympic Committee building in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. Russian athletes are competing under the acronym ROC, for Russian Olympic Committee, for the third time. The national colors and flag are banned by the International Olympic Committee because of a massive state-sponsored doping operation during the 2014 Sochi Games, which Russia hosted. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
At Olympics and beyond, getting away with it is Russia's way

By Brian Carovillano And Ted Anthony Feb. 11, 2022 03:05 AM EST

A staff prepares for the arrival of Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, for the Olympic Truce Mural ceremony at the Olympic Village ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022, in Beijing. (Wang Zhao/Pool Photo via AP)
EXPLAINER: What in the world is the Olympic Truce?

By Mallika Sen Feb. 08, 2022 10:10 AM EST

Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands celebrates his gold medal and Olympic record during a venue ceremony for the men's speedskating 1,500-meter race at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Nuis, Krol give Dutch 1-2 finish in Olympic speedskating

By Paul Newberry Feb. 08, 2022 07:21 AM EST

Arianna Fontana of Italy, celebrates after winning the final of the women's 500-meter during the short track speedskating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Olympics Live: US figure skater Zhou out after COVID test

Feb. 06, 2022 09:07 PM 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

FILE - North Korea's Hwang Chung Gum and South Korea's Won Yun-jong carry the unification flag during the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea on Feb. 9, 2018. North Korea basked in the global limelight during the last Winter Games in South Korea, with hundreds of athletes, cheerleaders and officials pushing hard to woo their South Korean and U.S. rivals in a now-stalled bid for diplomacy. Four years later, as the 2022 Winter Olympics come to its main ally and neighbor China, North Korea isn't sending any athletes and officials because of coronavirus fears. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
'Someone else's festival': No North Korea at ally's Olympics

By Hyung-Jin Kim And Kim Tong-Hyung Feb. 04, 2022 11:29 PM EST

Chinese President Xi Jinping, bottom second from right, waves as he arrives for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
In opening of Winter Olympics, chances at politicking abound

By Adam Schreck Feb. 04, 2022 07:08 AM EST

Exile Tibetans burn a Chinese flag during a protest against Beijing Winter Olympic Games in New Delhi, India, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. Hundreds of Tibetan exiles are marching outside the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, denouncing the Beijing Winter Olympics and demanding freedom for their region. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Tibetans in India demonstrate against Beijing Olympics

By Shonal Ganguly Feb. 04, 2022 02:46 AM EST

FILE-In this photograph provided by the Indian Army, army officers of India and China hold a meeting at Pangong lake region in Ladakh on the India-China border on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. India will not attend Friday's opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after one of the torchbearers reportedly chosen by Chinese authorities riled up New Delhi's anger. India's foreign affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said it was "regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics." (Indian Army via AP, File)
EXPLAINER: Why India won't send diplomat to China Olympics

By Sheikh Saaliq Feb. 04, 2022 02:13 AM EST