CNN – Sports

By George Ramsay The 2022 Winter Paralympics officially got under way on Friday, with the start of the Games marked by the presence of the full Ukrainian delegation inside Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium at the Opening Ceremony. All of Ukraine’s Para athletes made it to the Chinese capital — a feat described as a “miracle”

By Matias Grez, CNN Two young footballers and a teenage former biathlete have been killed in Ukraine, according to a number of sporting organizations. Fighting in the country entered its second week on Thursday after Russia’s invasion on February 24. FIFPro, the worldwide players’ union, tweeted on Tuesday: “Our thoughts are with the families, friends,

By Faith Karimi, CNN Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky was vacationing with his family in Dubai when Russian forces invaded his home country. He made a tough decision to leave his wife and three young children at their home in Hungary and return to his homeland to join the fight. He’s now a member of

By Zayn Nabbi, CNN With sirens blaring and explosions in the distance, it suddenly dawned on a fearful 20-year-old soccer player that he was in the middle of a warzone. What Amilcar Djau Codjovi, who plays for Ukrainian soccer club Vorskla Poltava, didn’t know was that he would spend the next two days frantically traveling

By Aleks Klosok, CNN Russian and Belarusian athletes will no longer be able to compete at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing after multiple teams threatened not to compete at the Games, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Thursday. The decision comes less than a day after the IPC initially permitted athletes from both

By Aya Elamroussi, CNN A Stanford University soccer player who helped secure the school’s 2019 NCAA women’s soccer championship was found dead in a campus residence, school officials said Wednesday. Katie Meyer was a senior International Relations major and team captain and goalkeeper on the Stanford soccer team, the school said. “Katie was extraordinarily committed

By Ethan Sanabria and Ben Morse, CNN The first Major League Baseball (MLB) work stoppage since the 1994-1995 seasons is almost over. Owners and players have tentatively agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) — and the season is set to begin April 7. The CBA determines players’ terms and conditions of employment. Once

Exclusive: By Don Riddell, CNN Ukrainian boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko are childhood friends. They grew up dreaming of fighting their way to fame and glory, and together they conquered the world with their fists. Between them, the 35-year-old Usyk and the 34-year-old Lomachenko won three Olympic gold medals and have since established themselves

By Aleks Klosok, CNN Ukraine will send a full contingent of 20 athletes and nine guides to the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Tuesday. The governing body tweeted a picture of the delegation with the message: “Ukraine’s Paralympic Team together earlier today before boarding for #Beijing2022.” The IPC

By Matthew Foster and Christina Macfarlane, CNN Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina says she has been suffering sleepless nights following the Russian invasion of her home country as she worries about her family and friends back home, describing what has happened as a “horrible time for all Ukrainians.” The 27-year-old, who was in Monterrey, Mexico,

By George Ramsay, CNN An open letter from Ukrainian athletes is calling for Russia and Belarus to be banned from international sport, including the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. The letter, addressed to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) |President Andrew Parsons, says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is

By Ben Church, CNN The president of the Polish Football Association has described FIFA’s plan to allow a Russian team to continue playing international soccer matches as “disgraceful.” Football’s world governing body announced on Sunday that Russia must play all upcoming international fixtures on neutral sites without fans under the name “Football Union of Russia,”

By Wayne Sterling and Ben Morse, CNN The International Judo Federation (IJF) has suspended Vladimir Putin’s status as Honorary President and Ambassador of the federation due to “the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine,” the sport’s governing body announced Sunday. “In light of the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine, the International Judo Federation announces the suspension

By Ben Morse, CNN Christian Eriksen made his first appearance in a game since suffering a cardiac arrest 259 days ago. Eriksen came on in the 52nd minute in Brentford’s 2-0 loss to Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday. He received a hero’s welcome from all four corners of the Brentford Community Stadium

By Ben Morse, CNN Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid squeezes a plastic water bottle into his mouth, looks over to the player he’s sharing the press conference table with and says: “That’s good.” They both break into laughs and smile as they bask in the post-victory feeling. Embiid’s new 76ers teammate, James Harden, has settled

By Ben Morse, CNN The Polish and Swedish national teams will not face Russia in a crucial 2022 World Cup qualification playoff matches in March in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The president of Poland’s football association Cezary Kulesza announced the news on Saturday. “No more words, time to act! Due to the escalation

By Jacob Lev and Mallika Kallingal, CNN Major League Baseball on Friday canceled more spring training games due to the ongoing labor dispute between owners and players, the league said. “While negotiations have yet to result in an agreement, we are committed to working around the clock through Monday’s deadline,” MLB said in a statement.

By Derrick Hinds, CNN Russian-born NHL player Alex Ovechkin has expressed his hope for an end to hostilities after Russia invaded Ukraine. “I would say it’s a hard situation,” the Washington Capitals left wing said at a Friday news conference. “I have lots of friends in Russia and Ukraine. And, it’s hard to see another

By Jack Bantock and Homero de la Fuente, CNN UEFA announced that this year’s Champions League Final will no longer take place in St. Petersburg following an extraordinary meeting of the governing body’s Executive Committee on Friday. The 2022 final was scheduled to be held at Krestovsky Stadium, which is sponsored by Russian state-owned company

By Jennifer Henderson, CNN The arrest warrant for an NFL player accused of punching and stomping on a man at a Las Vegas nightclub during the Pro Bowl weekend provides additional details of what police say occurred. According to an arrest warrant from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department filed last week that was obtained

By Anaëlle Jonah, CNN When Paris clinched the race to host the 2024 Olympic Games, it may have been in part thanks to a slogan that embodied the Olympic spirit: “Made for sharing.” But for French officials, that generosity doesn’t extend to the Games’ official languages. “The official languages of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)

By David Close, CNN The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced Monday that Medina Spirit‘s victory at the 2021 Kentucky Derby has been disqualified. The horse failed a drug test after crossing the finish line first at the Derby. Medina Spirit died in December. The thoroughbred was finishing a workout when he collapsed near the finish

By Travis Caldwell, CNN You don’t have to wait long in the grandstands at a NASCAR race before someone references the 1990 fan-favorite film “Days of Thunder,” or its most famous quote, “Rubbin’, son, is racing.“ A sold-out crowd in Florida is bound to see contact and fireworks, as cars bump-draft their way to the

By Jack Bantock, CNN Lebron James said there are no certainties over his future in the NBA, though he is certain about one thing — he’d like to play his final season alongside his son. The 37-year-old Los Angeles Lakers forward is currently back in Cleveland for the NBA All-Star weekend, the city where he

By Ben Church, CNN It’s official. Norway is really good at the Winter Olympics. With a population of just over five million people, the European country has continued to punch above its weight at Beijing 2022, finishing way above the rest in the medal table. Norway tallied the most gold medals, 16, and the highest

By Wayne Sterling, CNN There were five gold medals up for grabs on Sunday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Here’s a breakdown of who took home gold for their delegations on Day 16 of the Games. Alpine Skiing Mixed Team Parallel Big: Austria Bobsleigh 4-man: Francesco Friedrich, Germany Cross-Country Skiing Women’s 30km Mass Start

By Jacob Lev, CNN Pro Football Hall of Famer Charley Taylor has died at the age of 80, the Washington Commanders announced on Saturday. “Charley is a member of the Washington Ring of Fame and one of the most decorated players in franchise history,” Commanders owners Dan and Tanya Snyder said in a statement. Taylor,

By Eric Levenson, CNN University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas won the 100-yard freestyle in a meet record of 47.63 seconds on Saturday at the Ivy League women’s swimming and diving championships. This marks her third title of the competition. Thomas, a transgender woman, narrowly beat out Yale’s Iszac Henig, a transgender man, who finished

By Wayne Sterling, CNN China’s Sui Wenjing and Han Cong won gold in pairs figure skating at the 2022 Beijing Games on Saturday. The duo finished with a world record total score of 239.88 — 84.41 for short program and 155.47 for free skating — to capture their first-ever Olympic gold. The pair skated to

By Ben Church, CNN There were seven gold medals up for grabs on Saturday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Here’s a breakdown of who took home gold for their delegations on Day 15 of the Games. Bobsleigh Two-woman: Laura Nolte and Deborah Levi, Germany Cross-Country Skiing Men’s 50km Mass Start Free: Alexander Bolshunov, Team

By Kikue Higuchi, CNN The International Skating Union (ISU) will hold a vote at its Congress in June on a proposal to raise the minimum age for competitors to 17, the governing body told CNN on Friday. The sport has been at the center of attention after 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva was allowed to

By Jack Bantock, for CNN Eileen Gu and Kamila Valieva became the teenage faces of the Winter Olympics, but their memories of Beijing 2022 are likely to be wildly different. San Francisco native Gu is now a two-time gold-medalist, the Olympics’ youngest ever freestyle skiing champion, a Chinese national hero — and a budding author.

By Ben Church, CNN Video produced by Finn McSkimming, CNN It’s the fuel that powers performance — few things are as important to an elite athlete as their diet. Eating the right nutrients is critical to success, but so is the odd indulgent meal to keep spirits high through grueling training sessions. And as the

By Eric Levenson, CNN Lia Thomas, a transgender woman swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania, won the 200-yard freestyle race at the Ivy League women’s swimming and diving championships on Friday in a minute and 43.12 seconds, setting a new Ivy record. Her next closest competitor, Harvard’s Samantha Shelton, finished in 1:45.82, followed by Harvard’s

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN He is Jamaica’s first Olympic alpine skier, but Benjamin Alexander was a late developer when it came to spending time on the slopes. A former DJ who has graced the stage at the Burning Man festival, the 38-year-old only discovered his love for the sport at 32, after a chance encounter

By Finn McSkimming, CNN Winter sports star Gus Kenworthy has a lot to thank his mom for. Her hometown is Chelmsford, Essex in southeast England, and also where he was born and the reason why he is able to compete in his third Winter Olympics. Kenworthy won a slopestyle silver medal for the USA at

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN It’s been 34 years since Jamaica made its Winter Olympic debut in bobsled at the 1988 Games in Calgary, an unlikely appearance which was later immortalized in the Disney feature film, “Cool Runnings.” Though the four man team crashed and received a “Did Not Finish” result, the exploits of Dudley ‘Tal’

By Nectar Gan, CNN China’s freeski sensation Eileen Gu won her second gold of the Beijing Winter Olympics on Friday, becoming the first freestyle skier to bag three medals at a single Games. The 18-year-old superstar topped the podium in the halfpipe final at Zhangjiakou’s Genting Snow Park, adding to her gold in the big

By Chuck Johnston, CNN Eric Prescott Kay, a former communications director for the Los Angeles Angels, has been found guilty of two charges in the 2019 overdose death of Angels’ pitcher Tyler Skaggs, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas said. Skaggs, 27, died on July 1, 2019, in a hotel in Southlake,

By Holly Yan, CNN Gone are the days when Olympic figure skating was scored solely at the judges’ discretion, with subjective points awarded on a 6.0 scale. A 2002 Olympic figure skating scandal — with allegations of score-fixing — upended the sport and led to a complete overhaul of the scoring system — one that

By Jack Bantock, CNN South Korean speed skater Choi Min-Jeong successfully defended her women’s 1,500m Olympic title in Beijing on Wednesday, easing the disappointment of being agonizingly pipped to 1,000m gold on Friday. Choi was pictured in tears after the Netherlands’ Suzanne Schulting secured back-to-back 1,000m titles via a dramatic photo finish, missing out on

By Selina Wang, Simone McCarthy and Hannah Ritchie, CNN Kamila Valieva — the teenage Russian figure skater at the center of a doping controversy roiling the Beijing Olympics — had three substances that can be used to aid the heart in her testing sample, according to a report in the New York Times, which cited

By Wayne Sterling, CNN There were nine gold medals up for grabs on Tuesday at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Here’s a breakdown of who is taking home gold for their delegations on Day 11 of the Games. Alpine Skiing Women’s downhill: Corinne Suter, Switzerland Biathlon Men’s 4×7.5km relay: Norway Bobsled Two-man: Francesco Friedrich, Germany

By CNN Sport Staff In an on-camera interview with the BBC, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic said he is willing to skip playing in the French Open or Wimbledon because of his vaccination stance. Djokovic became embroiled in controversy earlier this year after attempting to enter Australia without a valid vaccination exemption.`The 20-time grand slam

By Gawon Bae, CNN South Korea may have clinched its first gold medal at Beijing 2022 last week, but the success came amid tensions with China over alleged cultural appropriation and “biased judgments” during the Winter Olympics. In recent years, relations between the two countries have been tense both politically and culturally and this year’s