Learn about Spiridon Louis, inaugural modern Olympic marathon winner at Athens 1896. It's the 125th anniversary of the event on April 10th.

Tegla Loroupe was a fighter as a long-distance runner - and one of my favorites to cheer - and she continues to fight in retirement, as a champion for using sport for peace and education.

Swimmer Aliaksandra Hersimenia: Belarus' repression against its own athletes continues.

Former German bobsledder Christoph Langen gets a new role with the IBSF.

Best wishes to Koji Murofushi, Athens 2004 and London 2012 hammer throw medalist, who is reportedly battling brain lymphona.

Vanessa Chala becomes the 16th Ecuadorian to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, and the sixth Ecuadorian judoka ever. (in Spanish)

And, Rckaela Aquino is the first female from Guam to qualify - on merit, rather than continental allocation - to an Olympics, with her second-place finish at the African & Oceania Wrestling Olympic Qualification.

Equality: A U.S. Olympic soccer star takes a U.S. Olympic basketball star to school...

Cyclist Kasper Asgreen may not really be a surprise Tour de Flanders winner, but it sure sets hims up for increased attention.

Snowboarder Chloe Kim shares her experience and concerns with recent anti-Asian American sentiment in the United States.

​Rio 2016 Olympic medalist Lydia Ko: the greatest final round ever in women's golf?

Congrats to Japanese athletic stars assisting the torch relay this week, including Takuya Haneda (canoeing), Mizuki Noguchi (marathon), Saori Yoshida and Sara Dosho (wrestling), Yuji Nishida and Emiko Miyamoto (volleyball), Tadahiro Nomura (judo), and Ayaka Tadahashi (badminton).

Can Mathea Olin secure a spot in women's surfing at Tokyo 2020, and represent Canada in a somewhat 'non-Canadian' sport?

Star Swedish curler Niklas Edin has won three world championships in Canada, and now he's trying for a fourth in Calgary this week.

U..S. wrestler Kyle Dake will make his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 after denying one of the sport's most visible stars a return trip to the Games.

Taekwondo star athlete Bianca Walkden is aiming to complete an "unprecedented" treble of World Championship, European Championship, and Olympic Championship this summer.

Could budding Team Great Britain's budding Olympic skateboarding star Sky Brown also compete in surfing at Tokyo 2020?

The Bridge asks if 38-year-old Mary Kom can win boxing gold at Tokyo 2020 after bronze at London 2012.

Relive Sturla Holm Laegreid's breakout 2020/21 biathlon season, courtesy of IBU TV'S "Best 5 Moments".

Judoka Lioc Pietri reflects on a "small mistake" that pushes him now to focus on Paris 2024.

FIVB's Roster 100 series looks at Norwegian stars Anders Mol and Christian Sorum, the current top-ranked beach players.

Ever want to go behind-the-scenes of Team Canada's divers in training? Team Canada has you covered.

More biathlon: Italian Nicole Gontier retires after two Olympic appearances and two World Championship medals.

Brazilian soccer superstar Marta shares her start in the sport with The Players' Tribune.

Kyle Dake and Helen Maroulis headline the results of Team USA's Olympic Trials for wrestling.

"Leaner and stronger", Irish swimmer Shane Ryan hope his new level of fitness bodes well for Olympic success this summer.

Rikako Ikee: Anyone needing a feel-good story? Start here. And watch this.

More swimming: Not all Olympic medals lead to immediate euphoria and satisfaction. Daniel Kowalski's Atlanta 1996 success started a period of depression.

Karate star Douglas Brose uses his sport to help his community and support the International Day of Sport for Development and Perace.

Beijing 2022 checks in with Guo Dan and her rise in speed skating after a start in roller skating.

HIgh jumper Priscilla Frederick-Loomis gives testament to the effects of Covid-19 as she battles through recovery to make it to Tokyo 2020.

Middle distance runner Bryce Hoppel reflects on his steady rise in the 800 meters with World Athletics.

Athens 2004 medal-winning kayaker Nathan Baggaley found guilty in a drugs case in Australia.

Soccer star Alex Morgan and basketball player Sue Bird will produce a retrospective TOGETHXR documentary on Atlanta 1996's role in lifting women's sports.

Speaking of film, get to (re) know Rulon Gardner ahead of watching Rulon, an Olympic Channel feature highlighting his championship wrestling beginnings and career.

The Major League Baseball season gets underway tomorrow, and its top stars are likely embracing the return to playing. In an alternate universe, though, they'd also be excited this year at the opportunity to showcase their sport and represent their home nations at the Olympic Games this summer.

In reality, the vast majority of MLB players will not be in Tokyo. While its "second-tier" players could be available, MLB's elite players will not. And from Barcelona 1992 through Beijing 2008, the last Olympic stretch for baseball before its Tokyo return, they did not, either. Simply put, MLB's team owners and players' union don't like the idea of shutting down the league's summer season for two weeks to accommodate the Games. (Meanwhile, the Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization have committed to the Olympic break.)

For Olympic and baseball (not necessarily MLB) fans, it's incredibly frustrating. The Olympics are the ultimate stage for a worldwide sports audience, and a validation of a sport as globally relevant. Sure, MLB has had the World Baseball Classic - notably, revenue from which it controls - but it hardly compares to the Summer Games. 

​Outspoken MLB star Bryce Harper puts it frankly, "You want to grow the game as much as possible and you're not going to let us play in the Olympics because you don't want to (lose) out on money for a two-week period? OK, that's dumb". (Um... yes, baseball team owners are more interested to grow their immediate revenue than to "grow the game".)
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Baseball may not get the chance again. The sport was not included in the program for Paris 2024, taking women's softball (despite embracing the Olympics) down with it. Very likely, the fact that the sport's biggest power brokers don't have an interest is a key to why baseball isn't a core sport for the Olympics. A return for Los Angeles 2028 is possible, helped by a United States-based Games, but MLB availability may very well again be an issue.

The vast majority of sports do see the Olympics as a unique, elite goal for its players. But MLB is not alone in some recalcitrance. Here is a look at how some other high-revenue professional sports approach the Games.

​Ice Hockey

As the only traditional team sport in the Winter Olympics* since Chamonix 1924, ice hockey has a special position of interest from the International Olympic Committee in ensuring elite players participate. Aside from that background, men's ice hockey's relationship with the Games is similar to baseball's.

The sport's top professional league, the National Hockey League, has a team ownership structure reluctant to stop a season's play and risk revenue and player injury. And, similar to MLB's World Baseball Classic, the NHL has its own contrived international tournament, the World Cup of Hockey.

And also similar, other top leagues make the Olympics a priority. But every four years, there is another round of negotiations, with the NHL's business interests pitched against the IOC's and the International Hockey Federation's interest in presenting a top quality tournament to expand the game. NHL players appeared for the first time in Nagano 1998, and did so through Sochi 2014, but skipped Pyeongchang 2018. Current expectation is that the NHL will return for Beijing 2022. That's due in large part to the players themselves wanting to go.

Russian figure skaters showed their dominance at the World Figure Skating Championships this weekend, as they won three of four events and half of the overall medals. Titles went to Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov (ice dance), Anastasia Mishina & Alexandr Galliamov (pairs), and Anna Shcherbakova (ladies, leading a Russian sweep). 

Meanwhile, The New York Times looks at the challenges Black figure skaters face in the sport, and the unque platform they have to address them.

Open water swimmer Marc-Antoine Olivier reviews the last year and looks ahead to Tokyo 2020 and beyond with FINA.org.

Mexico's women's archery team is better poised to make a good run in the Olympics after a strong showing at the Pan American Championships.

Only taking up 49er racing six years ago, Robert Dickson and Sean Waddilove overcame youth and relative inexperience to secure an Irish berth at Tokyo 2020's sailing.

​Rio 2016 medalist with Team Serbia's men's basketball, Nikola Jokic is having a banner year with the NBA. The Olympic Channel offers a look.
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Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Pyeongchang 2018 gold medalist Daniel-Andre Tande, after a serious fall at a world cup ski jumping competition last week.

Artistic swimmer Isidora Letelier is looking forward to the opportunity that Santiago 2023 will provide sport in Chile.
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Austrian madison cyclists Andreas Graf and Andreas Mueller have waited since 2008 for an Olympic opportunity, and they're trying to take the Tokyo 2020 wait in stride.

ESPN.com checks in with some prominent Tokyo 2020 hopefuls - gymnast Morgan Hurd, volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings, diver David Boudia, and soccer player Becky Sauerbruun - as they reflect on the past year that deflected their Olympic dreams.

Swimmer Mark Tewksbury, figure skater Eric Radford, and speed skater Anastasia Bucsis are 'proud to play' in a new children's book sharing Canadian LGBTQ athlete stories.

Taekwondo star Pauline Lopez leads a new campaign to help inspire future sportspeople in the Philippines.

Judoka Sam Chouchi relishes hearing the Belgian national anthem after his gold medal win at the Tbilisi Grand Slam this past week.

Team USA profiles Ariel Torres, who took advantage of pandemic restrictions to focus on getting him closer to qualification in karate's Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Congratulations go to weightlifter Fernando Reis, belated winner of Brazil's first-ever IWF World Championship medal.

He just set the Australian national 1,500 meter track record, but Oliver Hoare may not qualify for the national team for the Olympics.

​More Australia: Jared Tallent, race walking legend retires.

In a preview for the event's Olympic debut at Paris 2024, Gil Cohen and Noam Homri make history as the first-ever mixed 470 world champions at Vilamoura, Portugal this weekend.

Ahead of Brazil's successful push for Tokyo 2020 qualification, IHF spoke to Thiagus Petrus of the men's handball team for a quick Q&A.

Figure skating champion Brian Boitano gets a feature in Mr. Feel Good, discussing life after competition, using his athletic experience, and more.

Meanwhile, current men's world champion Nathan Chen is ready to defend his title despite lingering Covid-19 concerns.

Dustin Johnson: the world's top-ranked men's golfer doesn't have Tokyo on his calendar this year.

Forbes asks if Zoi Sadowski-Synnott is the "world's best all-around female snowboarder"? 

Argentine tennis great Juan del Potro, double Olympic medalist, is using Tokyo 2020 as motivation to return from injury.

Habiba Marzouk looks forward to representing Egyptian gymnastics at Tokyo 2020, after securing her nation's place on the rhythmic program in 2019.

Two of the standout performances from the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships came from Matthew Boling's fastest 200 meters this year and JuVaughn Harrison's rare high jump/long jump double (!).

The 14th seeded pair of Czechs Ondrej Perusic and David Schweiner take down some goliaths en route to their maiden FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour win.

No poles and a broken hand? No issue for star freestyle skier Eileen Gu as she wins two golds at the World Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding Championships.

57 (!) players are finalists for the United States' men's basketball team for Tokyo 2020. The final selection will be down to 12, to be determined during the late-ending NBA season this summer.

Can trampolining "legend" Dong Dong make it four Olympic podiums in a row at Tokyo 2020?

From Mongolia and the Philippines to the United States and France (and more), FIBA3x3.com shares 10 women and 10 men to watch in 2021.

Weightlifting: the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on Olympic qualification and preparation goals.

Volleyballer Ivan Zaytsev and his power for aces is the latest "Roster 100" feature from FIVB.

Six-time Olympic fencing medalist Valentina Vezzali gets a new challenge...overseeing sports in Italy.

Brothers Attlia and Miklos Ungvari make a special visit to inspire aspiring judokas in Uzebkistan.

​World-ranked John Epping and his club scored more than a curling victory at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier last week, with an opportunity to raise LGBT awareness.