Ukrainian high jumper Kataryna Tabashnyk recounts losing her mother in a Russian airstrike.

Survivors of Munich 1972's Black September massacre reflect on the moment on its 50th anniversary.

Speaking of...swimming legend Mark Spitz acknowledges an "out-of-body experience", winning seven gold at those Munich Games.

​Want to understand Yusra Mardini's backstory as an Olympic Refugee Team swimmer? Check out Netflix's "The Swimmers"...

And more swimming...Amanda Lim is another Singaporean facing scrutiny for 'possible' cannabis use.

And even more...star Caeleb Dressel reappears after his recent World Championship withdrawal: "I know I can have swimming and happiness".

Olympics.com: How Team Spain's Astou Ndour-Fall is giving back through her basketball platform.

Basketball star and five-time Olympic gold medalist Sue Bird has her last game.

Olympian Patty Mills takes his Unearthed conversation of basketball and politics on the road in Australia.

Was Team Turkey's Furkan Korkmaz 'attacked' by team opponents after a EuroBasket game?

Frances Tiafoe's "incredible U.S. Open ride" has brought highlight to the tennis player's stirring backstory.

Gymnast Caitlin Rooskrantz is "recharged and ready to give it (her) all".

More Team South Africa...rugby sevens player Nadine Roos looking to 'make a statement' for family and nation at the 2022 World Cup.

Figure skater Bradie Tennell plans a comeback to competition, training in a surprising new location - the south of France.

The World Anti-Doping Agency announces its first two groups of its 2023 Athlete Council.

Wondering what biathlon star Johannes Hosflot Klaebo is up to on his altitude training trip in Park City?

Road cyclist Mark Cavendish reaches more closure post-robbery as a suspect pleads guilty.

With 'bravado and flair', Jens van't Wout is a short track speed skater to watch on Team Netherlands. 

Tokyo 2020 champion Sena Irie swaps boxing gloves for a 'leap into academia' to study amphibians.

National pride is what drives taekwondo champion cadet Guillermo Manuel Cortez Labastida as he looks ahead to more success at increasing levels of competition.

Despite 10 years of senior-level competition, taekwondo star Ruth Gbagbi still 'enjoys the challenge and the need to constantly adapt'.

What were the positive takeaways for each of the the 10 teams at last week's Women's Ice Hockey Women's World Championship?

Ice hockey star Sarah Nurse takes a turn in the guest judge seat on Canada's Drag Race!

"Life with a little regret is real life." Four-time Olympic table tennis quarterfinalist Yu Mengyu reflects on her career without an Olympic medal.

IJF: Get to know Lasha Bekauri, Tokyo 2020 champion and the latest in an impressive line of Georgian champion judokas.

Triple Olympic champion Pyrros Dimos and Greece brought into the fray of neighboring Albania's doping problems in weightlifting.

​Daria Atamanov may be taking things 'slow and steady',  but the rising rhythmic gymnast is a newcomer to watch at the upcoming worlds.

​With roots back to 2005, the Dutch HandbalAcademie can be credited for Team Netherlands' rise in team handball over the last years,.

More Dutch success: What's behind the rise of Team Netherlands in track & field?

Another assault incident in the Caribbean involving an Olympic athlete takes the life of Bahaman sprinter Shavez Hart.

After 'falling out of love' with high jumping in 2018, Eleanor Patterson is now a world and Commonwealth medalist in the event.

Runner Ciara Mageean is on "cloud nine" as she sets a national record in a big upset 1500 meter win.

Another Australian sprinting star in the making? "Cathy Freeman's daughter blitzes race."

A Spikes must-read: Junior runner Jiri Ceska may have Olympic dreams, but knows his platform offers impact opportunity beyond medals.

American runner Grant Fisher has had a remarkable season; Track & Field News caught up with him after his recent record run in Brussels.
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​Pawel Fajdek has five hammer throw world championships. He wants seven.

Ukrainian freestyle skiers take refuge at Park City's Utah Olympic Park to train and find 'normalcy'.

Barcelona 1992 Olympic fencer Vadym Guttsait urges a continuation of sporting sanctions against Russian athletes for its invasion of Ukraine.

How's Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk training for his anticipated rematch against Anthony Joshua?

Boxer Michaela Walsh 'invested 19 years of hard work' to get to her first Commonwealth gold.

Jersey retirement: Olympian and NBA legend Bill Russell receives a remarkable posthumous honor.

A future NBA star? The 'world's tallest teen' Olivier Rioux makes an impression at the Canada Games.

After an unforgettable and wildly different Olympic experiences in 2016 and 2020, Team USA BMX star Connor Fields calls an end to his racing career.

Get a sneak peek at a Women's Health photoshoot with 'Queen of Beijing' speed skater Irene Schouten. In Dutch)

Olympic skateboarding medalist pioneer Keegan Palmer talks religion, 'bodies', and death with The Sydney Morning Herald.

Diver Tom Daley talks with Gay Times on his work to address LGBTQ inclusivity around the world.

After winning Team England's first rhythmic gymnastics all-around Commonwealth title, Marfa Ekimova hoped to 'inspire young kids in the crowd'.

Might rising star road cyclist Ethan Hayter get his Grand Tour career underway later this month?

Beijing 2008 track cyclist Hayden Roulston thinks Team New Zealand's performance at the Commonwealth Games was 'phenomenal'.

Philip McCatty feels positive on the development of triathlon in Jamaica, as he looks back on his second Commonwealth Games appearance.
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That surprise World Canoe Sprint Championship bronze medal for Team Mexico in the women's K4? That was not a fluke.

Veteran snowboarder Cam Bolton has words of advice via the Australian Olympic Committee: "Don’t stop playing, don’t stop moving and don’t stop learning. That’s when you start getting old."

A criminal syndicate: Former Olympic swimmer Scott Miller faces even deeper drug-related charges. 

Beijing 2008 Olympian and current USMNT general manager Brian McBride thinks the U.S. soccer team is in the right direction with more "well-rounded players".

Munich 1972 gold medalists Ben and John Peterson are doing their part to use wrestling diplomacy between Morocco and Israel.

Fast Company looks at the rise of surfer John John Florence's 'community-led' brand Florence Marine X.

"Surfer, athlete, entrepreneur" and Olympic surfer Sally Fitzgibbons gets a feature in Jill magazine.

Will the families of the murdered Munich 1972 athletes get just compensation?

Olympic champion gymnast Gabby Douglas gets personal and reflective in a recent Instagram post.

Cheng Wenxin (badminton), Xu Shujing (weightlifting), Jiang Qiaowen (taekwondo), and Tan Yating (archery) are four sportswomen giving baseball a try for Taiwanese reality TV. (in Chinese)

Will a gel injection help push Team Hong Kong's Tse Ying-suet and Tang Chun-man to a world mixed doubles badmnton title?

England (field) Hockey sends a message to the future British government urging support for team sport inclusion in youth programming.

Equestrian Ingrid Klimke 'follows in her father's footsteps' with world medal success in two separate disciplines - eventing and dressage.

Team Poland captain Bartosz Kurek is just one key player to watch as the men's volleyball worlds start later this month.

Tennis star Coco Gauff gives praise to soon-to-retire Serena Williams as a source of inspiration.

Runner Hellen Obiri's sacrifices in training for a switch to the marathon may include favorite food ugali.

"Everything is possible." Runner Anita Horvat has become a believer in her switch to the 800 meters.

Allyson Felix featured in Romper: How 'America's most decorated runner & mom' stays on track.

Javelin champion Anderson Peters suffers 'minor injuries' in a viral assault attack in Grenada.

London 2012 heptathlon hero Jessica Ennis-Hill weighs in on her ex-coach's recent banishment.

Beijing 2022 Olympic luger Seiya Kobayashi has dreams of a medal at Sapporo 2030.

​Curling great Eve Muirhead calls time on her career while on top, holding Olympic and European gold, and World Mixed Doubles titles.

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport. The thrill of victory...and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. This is ABC's Wide World of Sports."

​​This was the voice-over introduction to the long-running sports program that was a cornerstone to sports fans in the United States on Saturday afternoons, Wide World of Sports. I can remember eagerly watching it weekly, particularly in the 1980s, and wondering with anticipation what sport would be showcased.

​I like to think that at least some of my sports fandom can be traced to this show. I suspect others would say the same.

​On Saturday, April 29, 1961, Wide World of Sports debuted on broadcast television network ABC. Featuring coverage of track & field from both the Penn and Drake Relays, the show introduced announcer Jim McKay to audiences.

An intermittent sportscaster before his first Olympic assignment with ABC's Rome 1960 coverage, McKay was offered hosting duties for Wide World with the expectation that it might only last 20 weeks. The show ended up lasting for 37 seasons into 1998, with McKay as host for most of the run.

​Known for a calm demeanor, McKay became synonymous with the show, and its coverage of "a number of sports not normally seen on TV." As ABC owned Olympic broadcast rights for a number of Games throughout the show's run, coverage overlapped, and McKay was inextricably linked to the Olympics as well. He covered 12 Games in all, most notably Munich 1972, when he delivered the Munich massacre news to the U.S. His heartfelt "They're all gone" continues to be a haunting call of the moment. Memories of my first real Games watching - Los Angeles 1984 - are peppered with visions and sounds of McKay's commentary.

​​​Wide World, meanwhile, did showcase a variety of sports not normally seen at the time. In an era when football and baseball ruled broadcast television, it regularly shined a light on a number of Olympic sports, particularly figure skating, gymnastics, and track & field, but also skiing, swimming, golf, bobsled, tennis, and more. You might also find horse racing, hurling, Little League, or auto racing. Olympic stars such as Olga Korbut, Nadia Comaneci, Sugar Ray Leonard, Phil Mahre, Mary Lou Retton, Fu Mingxia, Greg Louganis, and Bonnie Blair are just some of the athletes to have been brought into U.S. living rooms outside of the Games.

Famed sportscaster Howard Cosell established himself as a boxing commentator on Wide World. His at-times tense rapport with Olympic champion Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) became legendary. 

More enduring that McKay's "spanning the globe" line in the show's intro, is his "agony of defeat". Narrated over a clip of ski jumper Vinko Bogataj's crash in competition, it became a signature element of the show's sports presentation.

The show's yellow gold jackets became an instantly recognized icon, as well. (See McKay, above) As did the show's theme music.

On January 3, 1998, Wide World of Sports as an anthology series ended its run, a casualty of the rise of cable television's sports coverage and the migration of sports to ABC's sister network ESPN. The moniker remains owned by the conglomerate, and is most widely associated today as a sports facility/entertainment complex owned by DIsney and ESPN.

Wide World of Sports remains for me a critical and personal piece of sports broadcasting history. The show's devotion to the broader spectrum of sports opened eyes to a bigger world, and helped start me on the path toward Games and Rings. Cheers to the memories. 

The New York Times looks at Indonesian success in badminton, and continued hopes for Olympic glory.

Gold medalist Sue Bird shares her views on the need to take a stand in key socio-political moments.

Olympic and world champion Conseslus Kipruto tests positive for Covid-19, and has his anticipated season start delayed.

Add the once-reliable NBA alongside the NHL in "de-prioritizing" the Olympics...with the reconfigured seasons pushing back windows of break time, combined with possible continued Covid-19 concerns, the stars of the NBA may just sit out Tokyo 2020. (Um, don't worry there's always 3x3!)

Team USA gives us a quick look at four potential stars of Tokyo 2020, from the new sports debuting at the Games.
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Three (!) banned substances??

The Olympic Channel profiles Jake Gibb, who could become the oldest beach volleyball Olympian at Tokyo 2021.

This will be an interesting story as Beijing 2022 approaches...can Zhang Peimeng make it as a winter Olympian?

​Skateboarding prodigy Sky Brown is ready to put recent injury aside as she looks toward Tokyo 2020.

An FIG Reminder: Spain is the only nation to win rhythmic gymnastics group gold aside from Russia. (BTW, the individual contest isn't much different...)

The Associated Press features Shaul Ladany, an Israeli athlete who escaped the Munich 1972 Palestinian attack as they continue their Olympic Games retrospective. It's a harrowing perspective of a moment we can't forget.