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Showing posts from July 17, 2016

Rio 2016 Olympics: Vladimir Putin says 'no place for doping in sport'

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Vladimir Putin says officials named in the McLaren report will be suspended, pending a thorough investigation Russian President Vladimir Putin said "there can be no place for doping in sport" after his country's athletes were told their  ban from this summer's Olympics remained in place. Russian track and field athletes are banned from Rio 2016 after claims of  a state-sponsored doping programme. Putin said: "Sport must be clean and the health of athletes must be reliably protected." He wants Vitaly Smirnov, 81, to lead a new anti-doping commission. Smirnov is an honorary International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and an experienced Russian and Soviet sports administrator. Putin said he had an "absolutely unimpeachable reputation'' and "the trust and respect of the Olympic family". The Russian leader wants the new commission to provide "rapid development and tough control for the effective realisation of a natio

Olympics: Ad of the Day - Samsung Combines the World's Anthems Into One Beautiful Song for Rio 2016

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  Samsung took national anthems from all over the world to create a global song Leo Burnett's latest Olympics work  By Katie Richards The world's national anthems come together to form a song of international unity in Samsung's latest Olympics spot. From Leo Burnett Chicago and Leo Burnett Sydney, the new TV and digital spot does more than just promote the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. At a time when the world feels like a scary, fragile place, it focuses on bringing people together at one of the world's biggest events. "The Anthem" opens with a young girl holding the Samsung phone and singing the national anthem of Botswana while enjoying a beautiful view of the sea. Instead of continuing with the same anthem, the spot jumps to another country, another person and another song. With the introduction of each anthem, viewers are introduced to a new location, intentionally contrasting with the home of each song. The anthem of Malaysia is sung by a woman in

Rio Olympics 2016: Russia fails to overturn athlete ban for next month's Games

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Yelena Isinbayeva, the 2012 Olympic pole-vault champion, was among the 68 athletes to appeal and may now be unable to defend her title in Rio Russian track and field athletes will remain banned from the Olympics following claims the country ran a state-sponsored doping programme. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and 68 Russian athletes attempted to overturn the suspension, implemented by the body that governs world athletics. But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has ruled it can stand. A handful of Russian athletes  could still compete  as neutrals at the Rio Games, which start on 5 August. "It's sad but rules are rules," said Olympic 100m and 200m champion Usain Bolt, who is targeting more gold medals in Rio. He said it was important to send a strong message to the dopers. "Doping violations in track and field is getting really bad," said the Jamaican, 29. "If you cheat or go or against the rules, this will scare a lot of people

Brazil arrests 10 suspected ISIS members ‘planning Olympic terrorist attacks’

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Brazilian Security Team ahead of 2016 Rio Olympic Games Interim Brazilian President Michel Temer has called an emergency cabinet meeting after authorities arrested 10 alleged Islamic State members who were planning to carry out acts of terror during the Olympic Games in Rio, which begin next month. The police operation, codenamed 'Hashtag,' took place across nine states, with suspects arrested in Sao Paulo and Parana. Justice Minister Alexandre Moraes told a news conference on Thursday that all the detainees were Brazilian nationals. Judicial authorities in the state of Parana claimed that intercepted data and telephone calls revealed that a terrorist cell was planning to use “ weapons and guerrilla tactics”  to achieve its aims. It says that 12 warrants have been issued for an initial 30 days, which could be extended if charges are substantiated. Moraes said that the men were new converts to Islam, who initially researched jihadism on the internet, and came into con

Rio 2016: Russian track and field athletes to discover Olympic fate

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Russia's track and field athletes were initially banned in November 2015 Russia's track and field athletes will find out on Thursday if they will be free to compete at next month's Olympic Games in Rio. Athletics' world governing body has banned Russia's athletics federation over claims of state-sponsored doping. But the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 athletes, including two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva, have taken their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). The Olympics Games start on 5 August. Russia was suspended   from global track and field events by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November 2015. That followed the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that showed a culture of widespread, state-sponsored doping, with even the secret services involved. The country's sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has since apologised for the fact cheating athl

OLYMPICS: IOC delays decision on banning Russia from Rio Olympics

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Russian Flag may not fly over Rio Olympic Village   BERNE  (Reuters) – Russia’s participation in the Rio Olympics remained in the balance on Tuesday after the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) said it would ‘explore legal options’ for banning the country from the Games. At an emergency  IOC  Executive Board meeting in Switzerland, the day after an independent report detailed a systematic and state-run doping programme in Russia, members fell short of an immediate ban but they did issue a series of measures relating to the report. “With regard to the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the  IOC  will carefully evaluate the IP Report,” a statement said. “It will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice. It added that the committee would have to take into consideration the Court of Arbitration for Sport ( CAS ) decision due on Thursday

Gidabuday grabs the Silver Medal as his American teammate takes Gold in El Salvador

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NACAC Athletics North America, Central America & Caribbean Association – Under 23, The 31 member countries championships were held in El Salvador from July 15th to July 17th 2016. Pan American Track & Field Championships – 5000m Finals; (1) Patrick Corona (22) United States - Gold (2) Sydney Gidabuday (19) United States – Silver  (3) Alberto Gonzalez (20) Guatemala - Bronze

Russia state-sponsored doping across majority of Olympic sports, claims report

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Russian Athletes are alleged to use doping  Russia operated a state-sponsored doping programme for four years across the "vast majority" of summer and winter Olympic sports, claims a new report. It was "planned and operated" from late 2011 - including the build-up to London 2012 - and continued through the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics until August 2015. An investigation commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) says Russia's sports ministry "directed, controlled and oversaw" manipulation of urine samples provided by its athletes. It says Russian athletes benefited from what the report called the "Disappearing Positive Methodology", whereby positive doping samples would go missing. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach described the commission's findings as a "shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games" and pledged to enforce the "toughest s

South Sudan on Thursday said two athletes from the world’s youngest country will participate in the Rio Olympic Games in August

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South Sudan will Send Two to Rio Olympic Games; Margret Rumat Hassan and Santino Kenyi South Sudan on Thursday said two athletes from the world’s youngest country will participate in the Rio Olympic Games in August.  Hassan, 19, competed as an independent Olympic athlete in the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics. South Sudan will compete in the Olympics Games for the first time after it became the 206th member of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in August 2015. The President of the South Sudan Olympic Committee, Lt. General Wilson Deng Kuoirot, said the two athletes, alongside 12 others, participated in the Africa Senior championship in South Africa from June 22-28 but failed to qualify for the Rio Games. Deng said the 14 athletes performed poorly due to lack of sports facilities and coaches in South Sudan. “We have no facilities in South Sudan for our athletes to practice. Secondly there are no qualified trainers and sports equipment in the country. It is like teaching