Sports

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 6: When archer Zahra Nemati carried the Iranian flag into the Maracana Stadium on Friday, she broke new ground for the Islamic country. Never before had a woman led Iran's team into the parade of athletes in an Olympic opening ceremony. In Iran, where strict interpretations of Islamic norms are enforced, female fans are traditionally barred from attending male-only sporting

Rio De Janeiro, Aug 6: Brazil unfurled a vast canvas celebrating its rainforest and the creative energy of its wildly diverse population to the tune of samba, bossa nova and funk in welcoming the world on Friday to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In a country of great economic inequality, the opening ceremony celebrated the culture of the favelas, the slums that hang vertiginously above the

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 5: The most crisis-ridden Olympic Games in history opens on Friday with Rio organisers hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up to the greatest sporting show on Earth. Football legend Pele is tipped to ignite the Olympic flame at Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium in Friday's opening ceremony, as the four-yearly celebration of sporting endeavour arrives in South

Ravi Ubha, Aug 5: India loves Bollywood, and its Olympic tennis team has inadvertently provided a sequel suitable for the country’s renowned film industry. As at the London Games four years ago, personality clashes and animosity are threatening to overshadow Indian players’ reputation for strong doubles play. Since the 2012 Games, Sania Mirza has risen to No. 1 in the women’s doubles rankings, and

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 4: Dope scandals marred what was turning out to be a euphoric build-up but India's biggest ever contingent would nonetheless be eyeing a historic medal haul when the 31st Olympic Games -- the first ever in South America -- get underway with the opening ceremony here tomorrow. The Indians are eyeing their first ever double-digit medal haul riding on the sheer number of

New Delhi, Aug 3: Cleared by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), Narsingh Yadav today got the go ahead of United World Wrestling (UWW) to compete in the Rio Olympics even as he waited for a WADA clearance as well. Narsingh, cleared by NADA on Monday, was awaiting response from UWW on the Wrestling Federation of India's request to reconsider his name in the 74kg weight division. "After Narsingh

New Delhi, Aug 3: Sports Minister Vijay Goel and five-time world champion MC Mary Kom on Monday wished the Rio Olympics-bound athletes luck and launched a ‘Digital Campaign of Wishes’ for the Indian contingent. In order to promote awareness about the Olympic Games in the country, Goel inaugurated ‘Wall of Wishes’ at India Gate Lawns here at a function which was attended by SAI DG Injeti Srinivas

Karachi, Aug 2: When 206 nations march past during the Rio Olympics opening ceremony, a mere seven-athlete team will represent Pakistan -- one fewer than the contingent sent by tiny Atlantic island Bermuda. Despite producing world-class cricketers, hockey players and squash champions in 68 years since independence, Pakistan's Olympic medal tally is an imperfect 10 -- eight in field hockey and only

Rio De Janeiro, Jul 2: Nepal earthquake survivor is the youngest competitor at the Rio Games. Gaurika Singh, 13, was born in Nepal but moved to London at the age of two. She survived a devastating earthquake in 2015 in Nepal, Xinhua news agency reported. She will make her Olympic debut on Sunday's 100m backstroke preliminary. "That's quite cool, a bit unreal too," Singh said, having just competed

New Delhi, Aug 1: In a sensational turnaround, Narsingh Yadav was today exonerated of doping charges by the National Anti-doping Agency (NADA), which concluded that he was a victim of sabotage, paving the way for the wrestler's participation in Rio Olympics. After more than a week of drama which began with Narsingh testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid methandienone in tests conducted on