The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which held a virtual consultative meeting today to prepare future meetings, has decided to start a formal procedure against the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus. It also received an update on the situation of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) and the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF). 

Even when karate was not on the Olympic programme, young Iranian karateka Hamideh Abbasali would tell anyone listening that one day she would triumph on the biggest sporting stage of them all. Now, with 12 extra months to recover from serious injury, she is ready to embrace her longed-for opportunity at Tokyo 2020. 

Olympic rings champion Eleftherios Petrounias was fully focused on defending his title in Tokyo this year but, having had major shoulder reconstruction in late-2018, he is confident the extra 12 months he now has to prepare for the Games is bad news for his rivals. 

The IOC is deeply saddened to learn of the death of European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Janez Kocijančič, at the age of 78.

The first principle of the Sports for Generation Equality Initiative, launched on 9 March by UN Women in partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is about promoting women’s leadership and gender equality in governance models. One emblematic example of this effort is represented by the project developed by Birgitta Kervinen, winner of the IOC Women and Sport World Awards in 2017.

Ahead of International Women’s Day, Pakistan’s first-ever representative at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) reveals how she hopes to inspire more girls – from her country and around the world – to take up sports and follow their dreams.