PARALYMPICS

If you got really into the Winter Olympics this year, and you’re missing the excitement, hopefully you can check out the final few days of the Paralympic Games.

The tipping point to the rapid turn of events Thursday was "a very, very volatile environment" in the athletes village in Beijing at the Paralympics.

The Russian Paralympic Committee will leave Beijing and has no immediate plans for legal action. The RPC issued a statement Friday criticizing the decision to exclude Russian athletes from the Paralympics and said the move was "absolutely politicized.” It said its lawyers had determined that the Court of Arbitration for Sport would not be able to render a decision “during the accelerated proceedings.”

Just 14 years after hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing is set to make history by becoming the first city to play host to both a Summer and Winter Olympics when it welcomes the world for the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Fresh off celebrations for the holidays and the new year, Tuesday will mark the countdown to another festive occasion.

China has accused the United States of violating the Olympic spirit after the Biden administration announced a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games over human rights concerns.

The Tokyo Paralympics have closed to end a saga that began eight years ago when the Japanese capital was named the host city by the International Olympic Committee.

The Paralympics got underway in Tokyo this past week, and much like the Olympics that were held last month, it didn’t take long for athletes to produce special moments that inspired the world.

TOKYO — Vinod Kumar, India’s discus thrower, won a bronze medal at the ongoing Paralympics in Tokyo on Aug. 29 with an Asian Record in sports class F52. P.S— He also set a new Asian record!”His best attempt was registered in the fifth try of 19.91m, with the other throws being 17.46 meters, 18.32 meters, 17.80 meters, 19.12 meters, and 19.81 meters. Earlier, Nishad Kumar won a silver medal in the high jump event. Absolutely delighted that Nishad Kumar wins the Silver medal in Men’s High Jump T47. Deepa had won silver at Rio 2016 in women’s shot put.

The Paralympics have started in Tokyo, and it’s easy to spot sports that are both in Paralympics and Olympics, such as basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, soccer, equestrian and cycling, to name just a few, and with various adaptions.

The opening featured acrobats, clowns and fireworks to mark the start of the long parade of athletes representing more than 160 nations.

If you really got into the Summer Olympics this year, and you’re missing the excitement or the nightly events, some good news: There’s a similar competition set to get underway -- starting today, actually.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has officially expanded and extended the nation’s coronavirus state of emergency as government advisers recommend legal changes that would allow penalties for violations.

Japan will ban spectators from Paralympic venues in and around Tokyo due to the spread of coronavirus, organizers announced Monday, similar to the ban on fans attending the Olympics.

NEW DELHI — Covid-19 could not put out the flames that fired up the beginning of the Tokyo Paralympic torch relay events on Aug. 12 despite the event itself being scaled down to restrictions imposed by Japanese authorities. A series of events related to the torch relay was held to boost momentum toward the Paralympics—which will take place between Aug. 24 and Sept. 5—and mark the transition from the recently-concluded Olympics. The torch relay began on Aug. 12 across 47 Japanese prefectures. Unlike the standard torch relay conditions, including the July event, the flame-light events are not planned on public roads. “It was a great honor to pass the fire as the Paralympic Flame,” said Takahashi.

If you think parenting is stressful, imagine parenting while also competing as a Paralympic athlete. Lora Webster, who competes in sitting volleyball, is a mother of three, and pregnant with one more.

An American gymnast and a Czech beach volleyball player have been added to the tally of people accredited for the Tokyo Olympics who have tested positive for COVID-19 this month.

Up to 10,000 domestic fans will be allowed at events, or 50% of the venue's capacity, whichever is less, Olympics organizers said Monday.

The U.S. Paralympic team trials will receive unprecedented coverage this year, streaming live this week and culminating with a 90-minute highlight show on NBC. The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee unveiled the coverage plans along with its campaign called “Show the World,” which is designed to highlight Paralympic athletes on their journey to Tokyo. “We've got a really nice opportunity to showcase and celebrate something at a moment where unification is so deeply craved,” said Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the USOPC.

Four second-grade classes in the Milan suburb of Verano Brianza have been learning to play basketball this spring from a real pro.

When the coronavirus pandemic forced Tokyo last year to delay the Summer Olympics and Paralympics to July 2021, organizers kept the Tokyo 2020 name, saying they wanted the event to be seen as a “light at the end of the tunnel.” Covid-19 is still spreading but the games appear to be going ahead, in what would be the biggest world event of the pandemic era. But they are almost certain to look like no other Olympics, with a bar on spectators from abroad and uncertainty as to whether even fans in Ja

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2020, file photo, shows tickets for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics displayed in Tokyo. Many fans living outside Japan who bought Tokyo Olympic tickets from middlemen - so-called Authorized Ticket Resellers - will not get full refunds. The question of refunds came into play a week ago when local organizers and the Japanese government decided to bar fans from abroad because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)(Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

An Olympic torch for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics is on display in Tokyo, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)TOKYO – Japan is halting a public display of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic torches as new virus cases jump in the country and Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga orders a state of emergency for Tokyo and the surrounding areas until next month. The rapid spread of the virus in Japan is imperiling plans for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, which are to open on July 23. Japan has attributed about 3,500 deaths to COVID-19, a moderate success rates in controlling the virus for a country of 125 million. In a statement, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said the exhibitions of the torches would be called off starting Thursday.

He's an International Olympic Committee member, a two-time Olympic champion, and the head of the governing body of track and field, known as World Athletics. “Athletes are a part of the world and they want to reflect the world they live in,” Coe said. Coe is in the Japanese capital on a courtesy visit to Tokyo Olympic organizers. Coe pitched Tokyo as a possible venue for a future track world championships. “We don’t know what will happen in the next few months,” Coe said, speaking about the Olympics.

People wearing protective face masks are seen before a rehearsal of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay in Hamura, outskirts of Tokyo, Japan February 15, 2020. If the IOC decides the games cannot go forward as scheduled in Tokyo, "you're probably looking at a cancellation," he said. "As far as we all know, you're going to be in Tokyo," Pound said. "It would be tough to get the kind of blanket coverage that people expect around the Olympic Games," Pound said. Pound said the future of the Tokyo Games is largely out of the IOC's hands and depends on the course the virus takes.

It took more than 100 years for golf to be successfully reinstated as an Olympic sport. Despite golf becoming fully entrenched as an Olympic sport starting with the 2016 Rio de Janerio games, the same can’t be said of the Paralympics, which has not recognized golf as a sport for its event. He said having golf in the Paralympics could give adaptive golf a huge platform to which sponsors can jump on board and possibly help alleviate those costs. A lot of people, this is their vacation.”Beyond providing further awareness to adaptive golf, getting the Paralympics to welcome golf as a sport can further showcase what amputees can do in athletics. Kellie Valentine, a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been competing at adaptive golf tournaments for more than 20 years and knows what the Paralympic stage would mean.

Alana Nichols is the first American woman to win gold in both the summer and winter Paralympics. Now, before the Rio games this summer, she has picked up two new sports. Jeff Glor has the latest.