Olympic athletes

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Ex-Olympian Hears His Fate on Abusing Child Athletes

Conrad Mainwaring gets 10-plus years in prison for abusing 9 boys—a fraction of his alleged victims

(Newser) - A former Olympian hurdler turned track coach has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for sexually abusing nine boys, though the district attorney said the sentence was only "partial justice because we know the defendant had victims far beyond those named in today's case."...

Caught in Payment Dispute, an OIympian Takes Off His Clothes

Mexican diver Diego Balleza has started an OnlyFans to help pay for Olympic training

(Newser) - As a prominent 10-meter diver, Diego Balleza is used to wearing small swimsuits that show off his body. Now, desperate due to a lack of financial resources ahead of next year's Paris Olympics, the Mexican is making a leap to a different platform in which he also wears few...

US Olympic Champ Is Dead at 32
US Olympic
Champ Is
Dead at 32
OBITUARY

US Olympic Champ Is Dead at 32

Sprinter, long jumper Tori Bowie found deceased at her Florida home

(Newser) - Tori Bowie, a decorated US Olympian and world champion sprinter, has been found dead. The 32-year-old was discovered at her Florida home, her agent Kimberly Holland told CNN on Wednesday, adding the cause of death is unknown. Holland's company, Icon Management, shared "the very sad news" on Twitter....

Olympic Medal Sells for $488K: 'Hitler Must Have Gone Crazy'

Silver medal won by Germany's Luz Long, who embraced gold winner Jesse Owens at '36 Games

(Newser) - The silver medal captured by Luz Long, the German long jumper who befriended Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, sold at auction for more than $488,000, a sum the auction house said was a record price for a publicly sold second-place prize. Long walked arm in arm...

US Olympian: I Was Attacked With Metal Pipe

Kim Glass says she suffered facial fractures in encounter with random 'homeless man' in LA

(Newser) - Former US Olympian Kim Glass is warning people to keep their heads on a swivel while out and about in Los Angeles after a man attacked her with a metal pipe. The 6-foot-3 volleyball player and 2008 Olympic silver medalist posted a series of videos to Instagram over the weekend,...

Most Decorated US Runner Is Making This Her Last Season

It 'isn't about the time on the clock, it's simply about joy,' Allyson Felix says

(Newser) - Allyson Felix, who closed the Tokyo Games last year with more Olympic medals than any US track and field athlete in history, says she'll retire after the 2022 season. "This season isn't about the time on the clock, it's simply about joy," Felix said in...

He Had Gold in His Sights After COVID. Then a 'Silly Mistake'

Wrong turn likely cost Jarl Magnus Riiber a medal in Nordic combined

(Newser) - Expectations were high for Jarl Magnus Riiber going into the Winter Olympics. "He's probably going to go down as the best Nordic combined skier ever," NBC analyst Johnny Spillane said, per the Wall Street Journal . "If he has a good day, he's pretty much unstoppable....

China Freaks Out as Eileen Gu Wins Gold

Praise of the US-born Olympian temporarily crashed Weibo

(Newser) - One gold medal down, two to go for Eileen Gu. The US-born athlete from China nabbed victory in big air, her first Olympic event, on Tuesday, after pulling off her first ever 1620 with a perfect landing. That earned her a 94.5 score on her third and final run,...

FBI Has Ominous Advice for Olympians

Bureau tells athletes to use burner phones, warns of 'malicious cyber activities' in China

(Newser) - The FBI is urging Olympic athletes to use burner phones while in China over fears that they might otherwise be tracked. "The FBI urges all athletes to keep their personal cell phones at home and use a temporary phone while at the Games," the agency says. It adds...

China Loves This Olympian. America Has Mixed Feelings

18-year-old Eileen Gu, born and raised in US, will compete for China as its best chance for gold

(Newser) - Eileen Gu "is, without debate, the most dominant woman in freeskiing," per ESPN . The 18-year-old San Francisco native is therefore the favorite to win gold in big air, halfpipe, and slopestyle freestyle skiing events at the Beijing Olympics. But if she does, those medals won't be counted...

Runner Who Finished 4th in Tokyo Is Murdered
'Prime Suspect'
in Olympian's
Murder Arrested
UPDATED

'Prime Suspect' in Olympian's Murder Arrested

Emmanuel Rotich, husband of runner Agnes Tirop, was detained in Mombasa, Kenya

(Newser) - Update: The husband of a Kenyan long-distance runner who competed in the Tokyo Olympics and was found murdered this week has been arrested. The BBC reports that Emmanuel Rotich was detained in Mombasa on Thursday, a day after 25-year-old Agnes Tirop was found dead in her bed, as he was...

Hurdler Who Won Gold Thanks Volunteer Who Got Him to the Race

Hansle Parchment almost missed his chance at Olympic medal after he went to wrong venue

(Newser) - If your mother always told you give yourself plenty of time to get to the airport, or to your Olympic 110-meter hurdling competition, we hope you've listened. Hansle Parchment will likely leave the house way early from now on, after the Jamaican hurdler almost missed his chance to compete...

'I Wish She Had Said Something': Ex-Olympic Cyclist Dead at 24

Earlier on the day of her death, Olivia Podmore posted a since-deleted Instagram post

(Newser) - On Monday, former Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore posted a since-deleted Instagram post that talked about the pressures faced by top athletes. By Monday evening, the 24-year-old from New Zealand was dead. A police rep told Reuters that police were called to "a sudden death" at a property in Waikato...

Out of Biles' Shadow, a New Gold Medalist for Team USA

18-year-old gymnast Suni Lee of Minnesota takes top honors at women's all-around finals

(Newser) - Much of the talk of late regarding women's gymnastics at the Summer Olympics has centered on the US' Simone Biles , who dropped out of multiple events to focus on her mental health, but one of her teammates just earned her own big headline. Sunisa Lee, 18, took home the...

Biles Experienced a Gymnast's 'Worst Nightmare’

Gymnasts speak out on the dangers of the 'twisties'

(Newser) - In describing the shaky landing of her Tuesday vault routine at the Tokyo Olympics—after which Simone Biles withdrew from the team and all-around individual competitions —the world's most decorated gymnast said she'd had "a little bit of the twisties." Considering she was attempting to...

Olympian in Quarantine Blasts 'Inhuman' Living Conditions

Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs decries lack of fresh air at hotel, calls it 'mentally super draining'

(Newser) - An Olympic skateboarder who was put in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 called the conditions at the hotel "inhuman" on Wednesday. Candy Jacobs has been in isolation for eight days and missed the street event in skateboarding's debut as an Olympic sport, per the AP . She said...

For This Former Olympian, It's a Trip to Prison

Australia's Nathan Baggaley sentenced to 25 years for 2018 cocaine-smuggling plot

(Newser) - A two-time Olympic silver medalist and three-time world kayaking champion has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in a failed $150 million cocaine-smuggling plot. Australia's Nathan Baggaley, 45, and his brother Dru, 39, were convicted in April of attempting to smuggle 650 kilograms of cocaine...

Why Some Olympic Athletes Are Sporting Tourniquets

Blood flow restriction is an in-vogue training technique, according to the 'NYT'

(Newser) - Not a sentence you'd expect to read in relation to the Olympics: "This year, the hot thing appears to be tourniquets." But that's exactly what the New York Times proclaims in looking at the trendy training/recovery method some of this Games' athletes have adopted. The idea...

This NZ Weightlifter Is an Olympic First

Laurel Hubbard, headed to Tokyo, will be the first transgender athlete to compete in the games

(Newser) - New Zealand has announced it's sending five weightlifters to the Tokyo Games next month, and one of them in particular is making headlines for her groundbreaking Olympic debut. CNN reports that Laurel Hubbard will be the games' first transgender athlete, competing in the women's super-heavyweight 87-kilo category after...

Olympic Athletes to Receive 160K Condoms. There's One Problem

Games organizers forbid sex in Olympic Village amid pandemic, tell athletes to bring condoms home

(Newser) - If Olympic athletes preparing to descend on Tokyo for the delayed 2020 Games were thinking of getting some side action while they're there (i.e., having sex), they'll have to rethink those plans. Per the Guardian , the International Olympic Committee has laid down the law for those staying...

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