Latest news with #Milan-CortinaWinterOlympics


The Mainichi
20-06-2025
- Sport
- The Mainichi
Figure skating: 3-time world champ Sakamoto to retire after Olympics
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March. Sakamoto revealed her plan at the opening ceremony for a new skating rink in her home city of Kobe in western Japan. "I feel like I have less than a year left," she said. "I'll be 29 at the following Olympics (in 2030), which is out of the question. I'll try to bring things to a close the year I turn 26." Sakamoto made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She won her fourth straight Japanese championship, and fifth overall, last December.


Kyodo News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Kyodo News
3-time figure skating world champ Kaori Sakamoto to retire after Olympics
KYODO NEWS - 6 minutes ago - 13:56 | Sports, All Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto, winner of three consecutive world championships through 2024, said Friday she will retire from competition after next year's Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old, who claimed women's singles bronze at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, finished second at the world championships in Boston in March. Sakamoto revealed her plan at the opening ceremony for a new skating rink in her home city of Kobe in western Japan. "I feel like I have less than a year left," she said. "I'll be 29 at the following Olympics (in 2030), which is out of the question. I'll try to bring things to a close the year I turn 26." Sakamoto made her Olympic debut at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. She won her fourth straight Japanese championship, and fifth overall, last December. Related coverage: Figure skating: Retired star Mao Asada to open coaching academy Figure skating: Teen star Nishino signals big future with quad jumps FEATURE: Cool moves at any age: Japan's figure skating scene grows up

The Hindu
18-06-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Even as neutrals, Russians remain barred from luge at 2026 Winter Olympics
Russian luge athletes will not be allowed to qualify for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics even as neutrals, the International Luge Federation (FIL) said after a vote on Wednesday. The 24-7 decision to continue an existing exclusion from FIL competitions was taken at the governing body's congress in Tampere, Finland. The congress also decided 24-8 in a second vote not to authorise a programme for neutral Russian athletes. 'As a result, Russian athletes and their entourage will not be permitted to participate in the 2026 Olympic Winter Games,' FIL said in a statement. ALSO READ | Russian teams remain banned from competing at 2026 Winter Games FIL president Einars Fogelis, a Latvian, said the congress had made its position clear. 'This outcome reflects our collective responsibility to uphold fair and safe competition. We fully respect the diversity of views within our community, especially from our athletes,' he added. The International Olympic Committee said last month that Russian teams, including the powerful national ice hockey side, remained banned from next year's Games as part of sanctions following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes took part in the Paris 2024 summer Olympics after rigorous vetting by the IOC and as neutrals without national flags or anthems. Four Russian figure skaters in men's and women's singles have been approved by the International Skating Union to try to qualify for the 2026 Olympics as neutral athletes.


Boston Globe
05-06-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
NBA working on plan for US-vs.-world format at All-Star Game next season, AP source says
Silver addressed the idea on March 27 as well at the league's most recent board of governors meeting, when he revealed that the NBA was scrapping the All-Star mini-tournament format that was used this season. At that time, the AP reported that the 2026 game — to be played Feb. 15 in Inglewood, Calif., just past the midpoint of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics — will be moved from its traditional prime-time Sunday night slot to one that starts on Sunday afternoon. That's happening because the game will be aired on NBC under the terms of the new 11-year media rights deals that kick in next season. NBC is also the Olympic broadcaster in the US. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up So, NBC could show Olympic events in the morning and early afternoon, then the All-Star Game, then have prime-time Olympic programming. Related : Advertisement The move comes on the heels of a popular tournament, the 4 Nations Face-off, that essentially took the place of the NHL All-Star Game this year, as well as strong competition at the Paris Olympics, where the Americans won a fifth consecutive gold medal by rallying past Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the semifinals, then topping host France and Victor Wembanyama in the title game — Advertisement 'What better time to feature some form of USA against the world?' Silver said on FS1. 'I'm not exactly sure what the format will be yet. I obviously paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success. . . . But also, going back, last summer, our Olympic competition was a huge success.' There is one big challenge regarding any US-vs.-world format. About 70 percent of NBA players are American, while 30 percent are international, so it would in theory be easier for an international player to make the All-Star team — if the rosters are the same size. International players, when asked at this year's All-Star Game if they would want a US-vs.-world matchup, sounded enthusiastic. 'I would love to. My opinion is that it's more purposeful,' Wembanyama said back in February. 'There's more pride in it. More stakes.' Added Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who's from Greece: 'I would love that. Oh, I would love that. I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I'd take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.' The Advertisement The

04-06-2025
- Sport
NBA working on plan for US-vs.-world format at All-Star Game next season, AP source says
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The NBA is working on a plan to turn next season's All-Star Game into a U.S.-vs.-world competition, a person with knowledge of the situation said Wednesday. It remains unclear how the format will work, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league has not made any final determinations. Speaking to Fox Sports 1 earlier Wednesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — who has talked about such a game on multiple occasions — was asked if U.S. vs. the world is possible. 'Yes,' Silver said. Silver addressed the idea on March 27 as well at the league's most recent board of governors meeting, when he revealed that the NBA was scrapping the All-Star mini-tournament format that was used this season. At that time, the AP reported that the 2026 game — to be played Feb. 15 in Inglewood, California, just past the midpoint of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics — will be moved from its traditional prime-time Sunday night slot to one that starts on Sunday afternoon. That's happening because the game will be aired on NBC under the terms of the new 11-year media rights deals that kick in next season. NBC is also the Olympic broadcaster in the U.S. So, NBC could show Olympic events in the morning and early afternoon, then the All-Star Game, then have prime-time Olympic programming. The move comes on the heels of a popular tournament, the 4 Nations Face-off, that essentially took the place of the NHL All-Star Game this year, as well as strong competition at the Paris Olympics, where the Americans won a fifth consecutive gold medal by rallying past Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the semifinals, then topping host France and Victor Wembanyama in the title game — behind a barrage of late 3-pointers from Stephen Curry. 'What better time to feature some form of USA against the world?' Silver said on FS1. 'I'm not exactly sure what the format will be yet. I obviously paid a lot of attention to what the NHL did, which was a huge success. ... But also, going back, last summer, our Olympic competition was a huge success.' There is one big challenge regarding any U.S.-vs.-world format. About 70% of NBA players are American, while 30% are international, so it would in theory be easier for an international player to make the All-Star team — if the rosters are the same size. International players, when asked at this year's All-Star Game if they would want a U.S.-vs.-world matchup, sounded enthusiastic. 'I would love to. My opinion is that it's more purposeful,' Wembanyama said back in February. 'There's more pride in it. More stakes.' Added Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo, who's from Greece: 'I would love that. Oh, I would love that. I think that would be the most interesting and most exciting format. I would love that. For sure, I'd take pride in that. I always compete, but I think that will give me a little bit more extra juice to compete.' The latest format for the All-Star Game — a four-team, three-game mini-tournament in San Francisco with the first team to 40 points winning each — was a miss. It came after years of the league asking players for a more competitive game. The 211-186 final score at Indianapolis in 2024 was the last straw, and the league — for one year, anyway — thought the tournament was the answer.