Games and Rings
  • A Blog for Olympic Sports Fans

A Little Roundup

9/29/2020

 
Can Ariya Jutanugarn finally reach her Olympic goals at Tokyo 2020?
Picture
Ariya Jutanugarn at Rio 206 via Tokyo 2020
Dressage rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, Japan's oldest Olympian - and who is bidding for another Games appearance - questions the wisdom of officials' recent commitments to Tokyo 2020.

Keep the Flame Alive speaks with Israeli skeleton racer Adam Edelman on his Olympic breakthrough.

Unfortunately, for me, the lasting image of Trayvon Bromell is his awkward lunge at the end of the Rio 2016 4x100 meter relay on the track. As he tells World Athletics, he's readying his comeback.

Hadi Soua'an Somaily's historic Sydney 2000 medal celebrated by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee on its 20th anniversary.

Sonia O'Sullivan recalled her silver medal-run at Sydney 2000 for The Irish Times.
Picture
Sonia O'Sullivan at Sydney 2000 via The Irish Times
Olympic rower Robbie Manson shares his coming-out story with Team NZ.

Congrats to Anna van der Braggen, winner of a rare double at the UCI Road World Championships in Imola, Italy this past weekend. And to men's winner Julian Alaphilippe, redeeming himself after a tough Tour de France.

Sydney 2000 Olympians reminisce in a special series of Australian Taekwondo Talk.

Those Havaianas better not break!
Picture
Havaianas image via InsidetheGames.biz

A Little Roundup

9/24/2020

 
Gymnast Aly Raisman lends her voice to the cause of mental health awareness, describing her own struggles since an eventful post-Games few years.

Want to hear about rhythmic gymnastics from Italian star Milena Baldassarri?

Jessica Blaszka wants to continue making history for the Netherlands in Tokyo 2020 wrestling.

Tokyo 2020 looks at Katie Taylor's before-and-after London 2012 boxing gold.
Picture
Katie Taylor at London 2012 via Tokyo 2020
The CBC checks in on Ivanie Blondin's preparations for Beijing 2022.

Agreed, Marie-Josee Perec deserves an apology. And a whatever-happened-to report!

Women have been competing in Olympic weightlifting for 20 years. IWF briefly commemorates.

​Airbadminton?


A Little Roundup

9/17/2020

 
Tokyo 2020: Get to know Primoz Roglic, primed to win his first Tour de France this weekend.
Picture
Double-Olympic Champion Elaine Tompson-Herah talks coping with Covid-19, overcoming disappointment, and more in a catch-up with The Olympic Channel.

Australia's News.com shares with us what Sydney 2000's brightest home stars have been up to since.

U.S. athletes Connor Fields and Alise Willoughby named 2020 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup champions after a curtailed, Covid-19 impacted season.

London 2012 gold medalist and U.S. soccer superstar Alex Morgan takes her talents to England.
Picture
Diver Oliver Dingley interviews on his podcast fellow Irishman Brendan Boyce on his road from a police career to mental challenges to skeleton racing.

Adrian Carambula and Enrico Rossi are FIVB​.com's beach volleyball team of the week.

Tokyo 2020-bound windsurfer Tom Squires breaks down his sport to Team GB.

ISU.org gives a quick rundown of what some high profile skaters, including Bonnie Blair and Yang Yang (A), are now doing, post-skating.
Picture
British Gymnastics drama continues.

Feel Good: The Sydney Morning Herald recounts the recovery of a prized - but stolen - gold medal for taekwondo's Lauren Burns from Sydney 2000.
Picture

A Little Roundup

9/15/2020

 
Congrats to U.S. Open tennis champions Naomi Osaka and Dominic Thiem? Hope to see you in Tokyo!
Picture
FIVB beach volleyball is back, as the King of the Court competition completed this past weekend in Utrecht. Congrats to Kings Breer / Krattiger and Queens Agatha / Duda!
Picture
Canadian rugby sevens bronze medalist Jen Kish talks mental health on September 11th's World Suicide Prevention Day with the CBC.

​Sally Fitzgibbons is using the pandemic-imposed lockdown to full training advantage ahead of surfing's debut at Tokyo 2020.

Four-time Olympian Chirine Njeim is hoping to make it to a fifth Games in Tokyo and help bring attention to her native Lebanon and its need for a "fresh start" after the recent Beirut explosion brought global awareness to sociopolitical issues at home. Njeim placed 109th in the women's marathon at Rio 2016 and in alpine skiing at Salt Lake 2002, Turin 2006, and Salt Lake 2010.

Professional boxer Maiva Hamadouche wants to win Olympic gold, too.
Picture
Olympic Channel: Abdul Hakim Sani Brown has high ambitions in sprinting for Japan.

Pole vaulter Sandi Morris gets personal in a thoughtful message on sensitivity and equality.

Australian Olympian Madeleine Pape throws support to Caster Semenya, despite previous concerns.

New Zealand table tennis stalwart Chunli Li still keeps striving for her Olympic dreams.
Picture
Cathy Freeman recollects her lighting the Olympic cauldron at Sydney 2000, and Rechelle Hawkes recounts her own participation at the ceremonies.

R.I.P. to Navid Afkari, wrestler from Iran tragically executed over the weekend and whose widely-denounced trial and sentence captured the attention of the sporting community, including athletes,  the IOC, Global Athlete,  the World Players Association, and even the MMA. So...now what with Iran, IOC? It will be hard for the IOC to do anything as the case didn't, at present, appear to infringe on Iranians' ability to compete, but rather an individual's criminal conduct (per Iranian authorities). Concerns with Iran go far beyond sport, but how welcome Iran will be in international competition will be interesting to see. Perhaps a harder line against Iran when obvious sporting infractions do occur. That will be a good start, and one where sport (ahem, the IOC) can take a lead.
Picture

A Little Roundup

9/8/2020

 
In a compelling video op-ed published by The New York Times, hammer thrower steps up her voice as an athlete-activist and speaks directly to the IOC's Thomas Bach and the infamous Rule 50.
Picture
Congrats! Canadian biathlete Megan Bankes, comes out as gay on the heels of Calgary Pride.

We had a world championship! What would have been a stop on the year's world series was turned into the stand-alone (sprint) triathlon world championships in Hamburg over the weekend. Congratulations to winners Vincent Luis (men), Georgia Taylor-Brown (women), and Team France (mixed relay).
Picture
Five-time Olympian Timo Boll is perfect to chat with Olympic.org on table tennis' "evolution".

Congrats to skiing legend Bode Miller, part of the ownership group of Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic.

More skiing: Viktoria Rebensburg, Vancouver 2010 gold medalist, retires after 13 years on the circuit.

Australia's 4x100 freestyle relay team of Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, Chris Fydler, and Ashley Callus reunite over for some fun twenty years on from their gold medal swim at Sydney 2000. Time has passed, but the team's retelling of it gives me chills, which is what any great Olympic story does. 
Picture
R.I.P. to William Yorzyk, original butterfly gold medalist from Melbourne 1956, who passed away at age 87.

Short track legend Victor An is set to mentor the Chinese team ahead of Beijing 2022, joining a top team of coaches preparing China for home success.

Equal Pay: Take that, USA Soccer.

SIfan Hassan and Mo Farah each broke the world record for distance in one-hour runs. Hear their side.

Six years from retirement isn't too late for an interview retrospective on field hockey star and Olympic medalist Teun de Nooijer, is it?
Picture
Speaking of retirees, have you been wondering what former U.S. national team rhythmic gymnast Wendy Hilliard has been up to?

Elaine Thompson-Herah tells Tokyo 2020 that she's looking to retain her Olympic titles despite recent injury setbacks.

The Olympic Channel spoke with running great, and one of my favorite athletes, Tegla Lorupe for a brief but sober check-in on her Refugee Team during this pandemic.

Can't wait for the behind-the-scenes of what - and how! - Anders Mol and Christian Sorumgot up to on the peaks in Norway. Awesome shot!
View this post on Instagram

This is the craziest thing I Ever done with a Beach volleyballâ–¡ I cant belive we climbed up and played some ball up thereâ–¡ the view is hard to describe but i think the pictures and the video speaks for itselfâ–¡ thanks to everyone that made this project happendâ–¡â–¡ swipe to see moreâ–¡ @frodesandbech â–¡ @its.petter @volleyballworld @ghostdivingorg @healthyseas @redbull @redbullnorge #FIVB #redbull #givesyouwings #GoodNetProject #GhostDiving #GhostNets #GhostGear #Volleyball #beachvolleyball

A post shared by Christian Sandlie Sørum (@christiansorum) on Sep 4, 2020 at 4:15am PDT

<<Previous

    About This Blog

    Highlights from the world of Olympic sports, focused on the athletes, and as seen through the cheeky lens of this one particular, passionate fan.

    Navigate It

    ​A Little Roundup
    Biweekly links to select Olympic sport headlines and news, with a focus on the athletes

    Let's Get Social
    Biweekly selection of intriguing, provocative social posts from Olympic sport athletes
    ​

    Athletes Worth Watching
    Weekly roundup of features on emerging Olympic sports athletes to keep an eye on

    ​Ramblings and Things
    ​
    I have my own thoughts on Olympic sport news and athletes sometimes!
    Read more about me.

    Picture
    At Rio 2016's Barra Olympic Park
    Header: Kallimamaro stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympics in 1896

    Follow Me

    Picture
    Tweets by @GamesandRings

    Picture

    Picture

    Favorite Sites

    The IOC
    The Olympic Channel
    The Olympic Museum
    Olympic World Library
    ​
    Team USA
    World Athletics
    ​Athletics Integrity Unit
    WADA
    Court of Arbitration
    Around the Rings
    Inside the Games
    GamesBids.com
    ​AP Olympics
    NBC Olympic Talk
    NY Times ​Olympics
    USA TODAY Olympics
    Wiki Summer Olympics
    Wiki Winter Olympics
    ​Athlete365
    ​Olympic Historians
    World Olympians Assoc.
    ​Games Architecture​
    Art of the Olympians
    Olympic.org Results
    ​Olympedia
    ​Olympstats
    ​
    Olympian Database
    ​On This Day in Sports
    ​Olympic City Project
    ​
    Keep the Flame Alive
    ​Totallympics
    ​Qualifying to the Games
    ​Lost Olympians
    ​
    Olympians 1964 to 2020
    Outsports
    ​
    Queerstory Files
    Tokyo 2020
    ​Beijing 2022
    ​Paris 2024
    ​Milan Cortina 2026
    Los Angeles 2028


    Categories

    All
    A Little Roundup
    Alpine Skiing
    Aquatics
    Archery
    Artistic Swimming
    Athens 1896
    Athens 2004
    Athlete Spotlight
    Athlete Worth Watching
    Atlanta 1996
    Badminton
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Basketball 3x3
    Beach Volleyball
    Beijing 2008
    Beijing 2022
    Biathlon
    Bobsled
    Boxing
    Breaking
    Canoe/Kayak
    Cross Country Skiing
    Curling
    Cycling
    Cycling BMX
    Cycling Mountain Bike
    Cycling Road
    Cycling Track
    Demonstration Sports
    Diving
    Equestrian
    Fencing
    Field Hockey
    Figure Skating
    Freestyle Skiing
    Golf
    Gymnastics
    Handball
    Ice Hockey
    IOC
    Judo
    Karate
    Let's Get Social
    London 1908
    London 1948
    London 2012
    Los Angeles 1984
    Los Angeles 2028
    Luge
    Melbourne 1956
    Mexico City 1968
    Modern Pentathlon
    Montreal 1976
    Moscow 1980
    Munich 1972
    Nordic Combined
    Olympics
    Olympic Sports Media
    On This Date
    Other
    Paralympics
    Paris 2024
    Rhythmic Gymnastics
    Rio 2016
    Rome 1960
    Rowing
    Rugby Sevens
    Sailing
    Seoul 1988
    Shooting
    Short Track Speedskating
    Skateboarding
    Skeleton
    Ski Jumping
    Snowboarding
    Soccer (football)
    Sochi 2014
    Softball
    Speed Skating
    Sport Climbing
    Squash
    Summer Olympics
    Surfing
    Swimming
    Sydney 2000
    Table Tennis
    Taekwondo
    Tennis
    Tokyo 1964
    Tokyo 2020
    Track And Field
    Trampolining
    Triathlon
    Volleyball
    WADA
    Water Polo
    Weightlifting
    Winter Olympics
    Wrestling


    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014


    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly