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.

Skiing great Deborah Compagnoni and figure skaters Noemi Tali & Stefano Frasco help introduce Milano Cortina 2026's Futura logo, chosen after a public vote.

On yesterday's International Transgender Day of Visibility, Olympic runner Nikki Hiltz gets personal.

Ahead of last week's Volta Ciclista a Catalunya where he finished 21st), UCI.org chatted with Richard Carapaz, proud to represent Ecuador on the world stage and promote road cycling.

World champion heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson updates 22 Voices podcast listeners on her injury recovery, and her plans for Tokyo 2020 and Birmingham 2022.

Team Great Britain marathon Olympic trials winner Chris Thompson is a "heart-warming story of hard work and persistence".

Tanzanian marathon hope Alphonce Simbu articulates the difficulties athletes - particularly from farther-flung and less wealthy nations - face as they strive for Tokyo during the ongoing pandemic.

The New York Times looks back with Mikaela Shiffrin on the unique challenges she faced as she embarked on the 2020/21 season.

Jimmy Shea: 2002 Olympic skeleton champion facing severe legal issues.

Rio 2016 medal-winning canoeist Steffi Kriegerstein struggles to recover from Covid-19 in time for Tokyo.

Former Major League Baseball-er Ian Kinsler set to make his Olympic debut for Team Israel this summer.

Can Tan Ya-Ting improve upon her Rio 2016 bronze at Tokyo 2020 and conquer the Korean team in women's archery?
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Speedy "try machine" Jordan Conroy is confident that Team Ireland can qualify for Tokyo 2020 at June's last-ditch qualification tournament for rugby sevens.

Pole vault legend Sergey Bubka talks pole vaulting, Olympics, and Laureus World Sports Awards with Armand Duplantis.

Faster Skier has a nice profile on U.S. Olympic cross country skier Sophie Caldwell Hamilton as she closes her career.

Fresh off scoring "the most important goal" of his career, Juan Carlos Obregon celebrates Team Honduras' qualification to the men's soccer tournament at Tokyo 2020. (in Spanish)

LPGA star Inbee Park reiterates her eagerness to defend her Rio 2016 title after another tour win.

Canadian BMX freestyler Corey Walsh pens a poignant social post and comes out as gay.

More Canada: the CBC checks in with water polo star Krystina Alogbo, who's set to miss her Olympic debut, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic.

​Daniel Andre Tande: improvement in his recovery from a much publicized crash in ski jumping.

London 2012 medalist and three-time Olympian Saina Nehwal tells The Olympic Channel that maintaining fitness is the focus goal as she approaches Tokyo 2020 badminton.

European Climate Pact Ambassador, and double OIympic medalist sailor, Hannah Mills talks "Big Plastic Pedge" sustainability with Olympic.org.

Boryana Kaleyn does her part to bring Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics back to the top, as she dominates the conclusion of the first World Cup of the year.

Brad Gushue won curling gold at Turin 2006, but has Beijing 2022 dreams, despite studying for an MBA and running a business at the same time.

Team New Zealand wins sailing's America's Cup, with Rio 2016 gold medalist Peter Burling at the helm.

Swiss ice hockey star Lara Stalder is the subject of "The Mind Behind" short documentary feature ahead of the start of her professional season.

Ukrainian gymnast Petro Pakhniuk has two elements confirmed into the FIG's Code of Points after successful execution of the original skills in competition.

"The world's most successful paddler", Jess Fox, is up for a new challenge in Tokyo as she eyes canoeing's Olympic debut.

2020 UCI time trial world champion Filippo Ganna hopes to use the Giro d'Italia as preparation for Tokyo, "the real peak of  (my) season".

Alice Dearing could become Great Britain's first Black female Olympic swimmer at Tokyo 2020. She's well aware of the signifcance of the opportunity.

Qatari Cherif Younousse shares his beach volleyball ambitions with FIVB, including his target of Olympic qualification with new partner Ahmed Tijan.

Get to know newly-minted U.S. national soccer team member Yunus Musah, who had three other national team options.

Badminton star Viktor Axelsen is preparing for Tokyo 2020 with a strong start to the 2021 season, thanks to a new mental approach and a complete comeback from an ankle injury.

Professional footballer Nate Ebner of the New York Giants is looking to return to the U.S. rugby sevens team to help avenge a group stage end at Rio 2016.

U.S. speed skater Conor McDermott-Mostowy is having "the most rewarding season of his career", and he just came out publicly as gay.

Three field hockey players - Aki Yamada, Janne Muller-Wieland, and Hollie Pearne-Webb - are awarded spots in the EY Women Athletes Business Class of 2021.  Congrats!

Wealthy Olympians: looks like an exclusive club on the Rio 2016 Danish equestrian dressage team.

Weightlifter Maria Fernanda Valdes is one of her country's leading hopes for a Tokyo 2020 medal. "The Strongest Woman in Chile" is determined to try for it at her third Games.

Am finally getting to jot down some thoughts on two documentaries I watched recently, both featuring Olympic sports, and both now available in the United States via Amazon Prime streaming. Watching the two in close order elicited conflicting emotions on being an Olympic fan.

Carolina Marin: I Can Because I Think I Can (2020)
​(book version available, too!)

Filmed before the Covid-19 pandemic rescheduled Tokyo 2020, Carolina Marin offers a look at the challenges the Olympic badminton champion faces in defending her title.

Entering the Rio 2016 tournament as the number one seed, Marin became the first non-Asian player to win an Olympic women's singles gold, and became a Spanish hero. The series picks up in early 2019, after Marin has won her fourth European title and third world championship. Tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in a late January match, her plans for a second Olympic gold are in jeopardy. Carolina Marin looks back at how Marin got started in the sport and made leaps in success with her coach, Fernando Rivas, and follows her as she works to regain competitiveness by the end of the year. As 2020 begins, she is presented with a major new challenge to her focus, as her father has a coma-inducing accident.

Presented in four episodes, Carolina Marin is a reminder of why we root for athletes - their humanity, their struggles, their passion and drive. Marin is a unique champion, and one can't help but root for her as she works to reclaim her top perch in the game. Her on-going story is a prime example of the inspiration Olympic athletes provide.

On the other hand...

Tainted Blood: The Untold Story of the 1984 Olympic Blood Doping Scandal (2017)

Filmmaker Jill Yesko's documentary on the United States' 1984 cycling team is from 2017, but surprisingly I only encountered it a few months ago. It's a sobering reality check on what can, and does, happen to elite competition when doping opportunities tempt.

The U.S. hadn't won an Olympic cycling medal since Stockholm 1912, and the Los Angeles 1984 Games presented an exciting opportunity to stop the drought. And stop the drought, indeed...the U.S. came away with nine medals across both road and track events.

Turns out, much of the team's overall success came from now-banned blood transfusions. This was brought to light shortly after the Games, but Yesko takes a deep dive into the how and why, interviewing former athletes and team officials on the details. While not strictly prohibited at the time of the Games, the secretive practice of blood transfusions was certainly widely viewed as unethical, and possibly unsafe. How it occurred at the less-than-upfront hands of team leaders is the heart of the Tainted Blood.

It's a depressing reality check on the willingness to find an easy way to success when offered. And, more depressing to know that the problem still exists. Cycling's track record of clean competition remained poor throughout much of the following years, and today, sports of all stripes still face the challenge of ensuring fairness. As a sports fan, I much prefer the world view of hard work-equaling-success that Carolina Marin​ offers.

All you need to know about the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf, courtesy of FIS. Check out event previews and highlight athletes to watch.

Track & Field News catches up with Rio 2016 1,500 meter champion Matthew Centrowitz, favored to lead the United States in the event at Tokyo 2020.

Sprint hurdler Grant Holloway is now a world record holder!

Need a primer on soon-to-be Olympic surfing? The International Surfing Association's The State of Olympic Surfing profiles the sport and its star athletes as the countdown to Tokyo continues.

Olympic medalist judoka Sally Conway announces a surprise retirement, ending a career that also included World, Commonwealth, and European medals.

Already an Olympic swimming superstar, Katie Ledecky is planning to make a big splash at Tokyo 2020.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali gets another posthumous honor with the release of a series of trading cards by Topps, starting with a commemoration of his Rome 1960 gold medal triumph.

She's already an Olympic legend, but gymnast Oksana Chusovitina is on track to appear at her eighth (!) Games and still be a medal threat.

Chusovitina isn't the only veteran looking to make waves in today's gymnastics. AP looks at 2005 world champion Chellsie Memmel's planned comeback. And, Marian Dragalescu is set to become the oldest male Olympic gymnast ever at Tokyo 2020.

Nominees for the 2021 Laureus World Sports Awards are out, and feature a number of Olympic sports athletes, including Rafael Nadal, Mondo Duplantis, Lebron James, Wendie Renard, Brigid Kosgei, Kento Momota, and may more. The awards, celebrating athletes'"impact on society" will be announced in early May. Congrats to all!

Ahead of his medal-winning mass start race at last weekend's World Championships, Olympic.org spoke with biathlete Quentin Fillon Maillet about his drive and inspiration from fellow French sport legends. 

2020 Tour de France green jersey champion Sam Bennett wins an Irish accolade for his accomplishments last year.

Italian short track speed skater Martina Valcepina is In the Spotlight as ISU.org looks at how she is managing training in a pandemic-challenged bubble.

Olympians Gevvie Stone and Kara Kohler headline the U.S. Olympic Trials for rowing this week, as they vie for a single spot on the team in the women's single scull boat. "It's very exciting. It's also very nerve-wracking."