With month to go, S. Korea hopes to repeat Winter Olympics success

As the clock ticks down on the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian resort town of Sochi, South Korea is hoping to duplicate the historic success it enjoyed in Vancouver four years ago, represented by what should be the country's largest-ever Winter Games delegation.The countdown will hit 30 days on Wednesday for the Feb. 7-23 Sochi Winter Olympics, where South Korea will aim for another strong performance.At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, South Korea won an all-time high of 14 med

Jan. 6, 2014

Coach predicts Olympic gold for skater Lee

Speed skating world record holder Lee Sang-hwa is a sure bet to become a two-time Olympic champion in the women’s 500 meters at the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi, her Canadian-born coach said on Thursday.Kevin Crockett said it was easy to see that the 24-year-old had been “dominating.”“I don’t expect that to change,” Crockett said on the sidelines of a pre-Olympic function for Winter Games athletes at the National Training Center in northern Seoul. “I don’t expect (the women’s 500 m in Sochi) t

Dec. 26, 2013

Obama selects gay athletes for delegation

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama named openly gay athletes to the delegation that will represent the U.S. next year at opening and closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, sending a clear signal to Russia about its treatment of gays and lesbians.Tennis champion Billie Jean King will join the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony, while Caitlin Cahow, a women’s ice hockey player and Olympic medalist, will represent the U.S. at the closing ceremony. Both athletes have identif

Dec. 18, 2013

Lee Sang-hwa sees room for improvement before Sochi Games

Speed skating world record holder Lee Sang-hwa said Tuesday she feels there is still room for improvement ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.Lee made the remark after receiving the Female Athlete of the Year award, presented by a local cable network and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation.She beat out figure skater Kim Yu-na, who won her second career world title in March this year, and the world’s No. 1-ranked

Dec. 17, 2013

IOC to spend $20m to fight match-fixing and doping

LONDON (AP) ― The International Olympic Committee is putting up $20 million to fight doping and match-fixing ― considered the two biggest threats to the credibility of the Games.New IOC president Thomas Bach announced the funding projects Saturday following an unprecedented four-day “brainstorming session” with his executive board in the Swiss resort of Montreux that focused on key issues for the future of the Olympics.Bach, who was elected in September to succeed Jacques Rogge as president, has

Dec. 15, 2013

Russia says Sochi will have enough snow for games

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's chief weather forecaster says Sochi will have enough snow for the Winter Olympics in February.Two test events in Sochi had to be cancelled last February because of lack of snow or rainy weather in the area, which is the only sub-tropical region of Russia.Organizers have stored snow and installed what they described as Europe's biggest snow-making system to make sure there's enough snow for the games, which begin on Feb. 7.Roman Vilfand, director of the Russian Meteorologi

Dec. 13, 2013

Bach: Russia to set up protest zones in Sochi

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― IOC president Thomas Bach said Russia will set up public protest zones in Sochi during the Winter Olympics, a move unlikely to defuse criticism of the country’s human rights record and a recent law banning gay “propaganda.”With the opening ceremony less than two months away, Bach said Sochi organizers notified him of the decision during their report to the International Olympic Committee executive board on Tuesday.Bach, chairing his first board meeting since being el

Dec. 11, 2013

IOC drops plagiarism probe into Moon DS

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― The International Olympic Committee has dropped an ethics investigation into a South Korean member accused of plagiarism.IOC president Thomas Bach says the ethics commission closed the case into athlete member Moon Dae-sung, a former gold medalist in taekwondo who was accused of plagiarizing much of his university doctorate thesis.The investigation began in April 2012.Bach says the IOC repeatedly asked the university for its own findings, but has yet to receive its d

Dec. 11, 2013

Korean curlers swept up in Sochi dreams

Clasping the treasured broom she used to reach the Sochi Games, Shin Mi-sung smiles as she remembers the ridicule and embarrassment she has had to endure as part of South Korea’s Olympic curling team.“I used to take the subway holding this broom in my hand and people would think I was a window cleaner or a street sweeper,” Shin told Reuters.At 35, the eldest of Korea’s five-woman team headed to Sochi for the Feb. 7-23 Games, Shin recalls one moment when a dire lack of funding forced them to take

Dec. 2, 2013

Korea eyes another strong Winter Games

South Korean athletes will be eyeing another strong Winter Olympics when the Russian city of Sochi hosts the quadrennial competition next year, a senior sports official here said on Wednesday.Kim Jae-youl, president of the Korea Skating Union, told reporters that the goal is to grab “at least four gold medals” at the Feb. 7-23 event. Kim will serve as the head of South Korea’s athletic delegation at the Sochi Winter Games next February.“We want to finish high in the medal table for the third con

Nov. 27, 2013

6 cities in running for 2022 Games

LONDON (AP) ― The race for the 2022 Winter Olympics is on a six-city contest featuring two former Summer Games hosts, a cross-border bid and a pair of candidates from the former Soviet Union.Notably missing are any contenders from the traditional Alpine countries of Europe, where voters in Switzerland and Germany rejected proposed bids because of concerns over high costs and the environment.The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities, hours after the midnight dea

Nov. 17, 2013

Korea secures multiple spots in Olympic short track

South Korean men and women have secured multiple spots in individual short track races at next year’s Winter Olympics.At the fourth leg of the International Skating Union World Cup Short Track held in Kolomna, Russia on Thursday, Noh Jin-kyu, Sin Da-woon and Lee Han-bin all reached the quarterfinals of the men’s 1,500-meter race, each earning a spot at the Winter Games scheduled to open in Sochi, Russia, next February.In the women’s 1,500 m event, Shim Suk-hee, Kim A-lang and Park Seung-hi also

Nov. 15, 2013

Munich to bid for 2022 Olympics

MUNICH (AP) ― Germany is moving forward with a possible Munich bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics.The German Olympic Sports Confederation approved a concept based mostly on Munich’s unsuccessful bid for the 2018 Games, which were awarded to PyeongChang, South Korea.Munich would host indoor ice sports, such as figure skating, while Garmisch-Partenkirchen would stage the Alpine events. Biathlon and cross-county would be held in Ruhpolding and sliding events in Koenigssee. All of the venues are withi

Oct. 1, 2013

Tokyo celebrates win to host 2020 Olympics

TOKYO -- Cheers and shouts of ``Banzai!!'' echoed across Tokyo just after sunrise as thousands of people started celebrating the city's successful bid to host the 2020 Olympics, beating rivals Istanbul and Madrid despite concerns about a nuclear plant leaking radioactive water. A slight favorite ahead of the International Olympic Committee's vote in Beunos Aires, Argentina, Japan's capital defeated Istanbul 60-36 in the final round. Madrid was eliminated in the first round.  More than 1,200 dign

Sept. 8, 2013