Olympics Financial News

Spanish champions Barcelona this season but the emergence of teenage starlet Lamine Yamal is the clearest. The 16-year-old winger could prove crucial in the Champions League last 16 second-leg clash with Napoli on Tuesday at the club's temporary Olympic Stadium home. Yamal became the youngest player ever to feature in the Champions League knock-out stages as he impressed in the 1-1 first-leg draw in the south of Italy.

Pullela Gopichand is to be believed, they are India’s best bet for a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. “If they play one notch below their best, even then they should win the gold. They are that good,” the badminton national head coach said about the Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who are in red hot form and have yet again proved it at the French Open Super 750 in Paris. The duo talks with BORIA MAJUMDAR about the importance of the ongoing tournament, how it will help them prepare for the Olympics, their chances and more. Excerpts: How much does it help that the ongoing tournament is at the venue that will be used for the Olympics? Chirag: It will help a lot. You get yourself familiar with things and given that we haven’t played in this venue, it is of serious help because we will now know what to expect come the Olympics. It is always about preparation and to be well prepared we need to know as much of what we might encounter as possible. Playing this tournament in the same venue is the kind of perfect preparation we need. The more you win, the more pressure it will bring during the Olympics. You have started the year in a stellar fashion. Multiple semi-finals and finals already.

Welcome to skijoring: an extreme — and quirky — winter sport that celebrates the unlikely melding of rodeo and ski culture in the U.S. Mountain West. It's a heart-pumping, white-knuckle competition in which horses — and sometimes dogs, snowmobiles and even cars — tow skiers by rope at speeds that can top 40 mph (64 kph) over jumps as high as 8 feet (2.4 meters) and around obstacles as they try to lance suspended hoops with a baton, typically a ski pole that's cut in half.

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which has been placed under suspension by the Centre, told the Delhi High Court on Thursday it will withdraw its circular on conducting selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament. Taking note of the statement made by WFI's counsel, Justice Sachin Datta said the trials shall proceed as per the circular issued by the ad-hoc committee supervising the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India. The ad-hoc committee of the WFI had issued a press release on February 9 saying it will hold the trials for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers (April 19-21) and World Olympic Qualifiers (May 9-12) on March 10 and 11 at Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports, Patiala and Sports Authority of India (SAI) complex in Sonipat.

India takes safety of women very seriously: NCW chief spars with US-based writer Singer Chinmayi on the X platform wrote, "If all Indians can be proud when ‘few’ Indians win an Olympic medal. All Indians can also be ashamed when ‘few’ men rape". Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Jharkhand Police has handed over a compensation of ₹10 lakhs to the husband of the victim.

B Sai Praneeth on Monday announced his retirement from international badminton, bringing down curtains on a successful career during which he won the Singapore Open and also represented India at the Tokyo Olympics. The 31-year-old from Hyderabad decided to hang his boost after battling nagging injuries since the Tokyo Games. «With a mix of emotions, I pen down these words to bid farewell and announce my retirement from the sport that has been my lifeblood for over 24 years,» he posted on his Instagram account. «Today, as I embark on a new chapter, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the journey that brought me here.

Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian seeking to set aside and declare as illegal the elections held by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The petition by the wrestlers, who were at the forefront of last year's protest at Jantar Mantar here demanding the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers, is listed for hearing before Justice Sachin Datta. The plea contended that the WFI elections, held on December 21, were in blatant violation of Sports Code and sought a direction to the federation to «cease and desist» from undertaking any activity pertaining to the sport of wrestling. «The present Writ Petition is being filed by the Petitioners inter alia assailing, challenging, and seeking directions against the illegal action of the suspended Wrestling Federation of India conducting selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament notified through its circular Dt. 26.02.2024 against the directives of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Wrestling Federation of India,» the petition said.

LeBron James on Saturday became the first NBA player to score 40,000 career points, hitting a scoop layup off the glass in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers home game against the Denver Nuggets. James, who entered the game needing nine points to reach the milestone, used a spin move to create separation from Denver's Michael Porter Jr. and put the ball in with his left hand as the all-time scoring leader continues to put his record further out of reach. The sold-out crowd in downtown Los Angeles roared with approval when James made the highly-anticipated shot to reach 40,000 points and gave him a standing ovation when he went to the bench at the next break.

Olympic champion Michael Johnson is starting a new track league he hopes will help athletes earn more exposure and money in a sport that struggles for attention in between Olympic cycles

Hockey India CEO Elena Norman on Tuesday said the work environment in HI was «suffocating» and she had no choice but to call it quits. After holding the position for 13 years, Norman resigned and even though HI did not reveal the specific reasons for her decision in its official statement, the Australian spoke out on what pushed her to exit. «Absolutely, it was getting tough to deliver in the fight between two factions. The environment was becoming suffocating,» Norman told PTI in an interview. «There are two factions in Hockey India. There is (President) Dilip Tirkey and I and there is (Secretary) Bholanath Singh, (Executive Director) Cdr. R K Srivastava and (Treasurer) Sekar J Manoharan,» she said.

The Eiffel Tower has reopened to visitors after a six-day closure because of striking employees demanding better maintenance of the historic landmark, showing traces of rust, and salary hikes

Eiffel Tower welcomed back visitors on Sunday following a temporary closure of six days. The shutdown was a result of employees going on strike, advocating for improved maintenance of the historical landmark and salary increments. The management of the 330-meter (1,083-foot) tower released a statement, affirming resolution with the labor unions representing the workers. The agreement includes a commitment to a substantial investment of «an ambitious 380 million euros (about $412 million) by 2031» for renovation purposes. The maintenance work aims to address concerns about visible traces of rust on the structure. Additionally, salary negotiations were initiated during the week and are expected to conclude next month. The striking employees had insisted on a raise commensurate with the revenue generated from ticket sales.

Andreas Brehme, who scored from the penalty spot to seal victory for West Germany against Argentina in the 1990 World Cup final, died overnight into Tuesday at the age of 63, his former club Bayern Munich said. «FC Bayern is deeply shocked by the sudden death of Andreas Brehme,» the club said in a statement. «We will always keep Andreas Brehme in our hearts. As a world champion and as a very special person.»

Lok Sabha Elections around the corner, PM Modi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can do it." needs to reach every new voter. "In the next 100 days, we all have to reach out to every new voter, every beneficiary, every community. We have got to win everyone's trust and support...," he said.

Indian women beat Thailand 3-2 in a thrilling final to clinch their maiden gold medal at the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Sunday. The young and sprightly group of Indian women's team, led by PV Sindhu, defied all expectations as it rose to the occasion to come up trumps against two-time bronze medallists Thailand. It, however, needs to be mentioned that like most of the teams in the competition, Thailand were not at full strength. They were without their top two singles players — world No. 13 Ratchanok Intanon and world No. 16 Pornpawee Chochuwong. Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu, who is returning to action after a four-month injury-forced break, was back to her aggressive best as rode on her power and placement to outclass world no 17 Supanida Katethong 21-12 21-12 in the first singles and hand India a 1-0 lead.

P V Sindhu made a winning return from a lengthy injury lay-off as India stunned formidable China 3-2 in the women's competition of the Badminton Asia Team Championships here on Wednesday. With just two teams in Group W, India were assured of a knock-out round berth even before their opening match but the team made its mark in style with the shock win over the top-seeded Chinese team. Sindhu, who was missing in action since October last year due to a knee injury at the French Open, led the way as she beat higher-ranked Han Yue 21-17 21-15 in 40 minutes to give India 1-0 lead in the tie. The 28-year-old, who won a silver in the 2016 Olympics followed by a bronze in the Tokyo Games, is currently ranked 11th while Yue is world number eight.

marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach were killed in a traffic accident in the Rift Valley on Sunday, cutting short the promising career of the only man to have run the endurance classic in less than two hours and one minute. The 24-year-old set the world record at the Chicago Marathon in October with a time of two hours and 35 seconds to surpass the mark of 2:01:09 run by compatriot Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2022. Kiptum, who clocked three of the seven fastest marathon times in history, had been hoping to become the first man to run the marathon in under two hours in race conditions at Rotterdam in April as well as make his Olympic debut in Paris in July.

Quebec’s tourism minister says demolishing Montreal’s Olympic Stadium would cost $2 billion, but that estimate is raising questions because other North American cities have torn down stadiums for hundreds of millions of dollars less.

Preeti Rajak, who is a champion trap shooter, has become the first woman to hold the rank of Subedar in the Indian Army after she was promoted on Sunday. Subedar Rajak joined the Army in the Corps of Military Police in December 2022. «In a proud moment for the Indian Army as well as women of the country, today Havildar Preeti Rajak, trap shooter, was promoted to the rank of Subedar,» the Army said.

700 grapplers, representing all affiliated state units except Punjab and Odisha, will participate in the Senior National Championship in Pune from Monday, the suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said on Saturday. The national body was suspended by the Sports Ministry on December 24, just three days after it held its election for violating its own constitution after it announced to host the 2023 age group nationals in Gonda, UP in last week of December.

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