TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee will conduct inspections at the end of this month of venues the Sapporo Olympic organizers intend to use if the city is selected to host the 2030 Winter Games, a source with knowledge of the matter said Tuesday.   IOC staff will visit venues in Hokkaido, northern Japan, to check on their current operating conditions and….Read more

Tokyo, April 22 (Jiji Press)–The Japan Sport Association has canceled three exchange programs with Russia that had been scheduled for fiscal 2022, which started this month, due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, association officials said Friday.     The three were a boxing event in Sapporo in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido and a judo event in Munakata in the….Read more

New York, April 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Asuka Hara, 11, has won the first place in the pre-competitive division at the Youth America Grand Prix international ballet competition for young dancers.     In the announcement Tuesday of the final-round results of the contest held in Tampa, Florida, the girl from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan, received “Hope Award” for the best dancer….Read more

Sports dailies Nikkan Sports and Chunichi Sports reported on Ambassador Emanuel’s tweet on Tuesday congratulating Chicago Cubs outfielder Suzuki Seiya on being named the National League Player of the Week within the first two weeks of his rookie season. The papers quoted the Ambassador as tweeting: “Less than two weeks in the Major Leagues, and Suzuki-san is already on a….Read more

Sapporo, March 16 (Jiji Press)–A majority of people in Hokkaido are in favor of hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sapporo, said the capital of Japan’s northernmost prefecture Wednesday.     “We have gained a certain level of support” for the bid to host the 2030 Games, Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto told reporters about preliminary survey results. “We’ll seek….Read more

Protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is spreading within sports. Multiple teams in the European soccer UEFA league have refused to play Russian clubs, and Russian athletes are banned from the world figure skating championships scheduled for later this month in France.   The International Olympic Committee has advised sports associations to remove athletes and executives from Russia, as well….Read more

The spirit of fair play, the foundation of sports, has been slighted. Relevant organizations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) need to get to the bottom of this issue as soon as possible and deal with it appropriately.   A doping scandal has come to light at the Beijing Winter Olympics. A banned drug has reportedly been detected in….Read more

TOKYO – The Japan Sports Agency said Tuesday members of the country’s Beijing Winter Olympics delegation will have their mobile devices inspected upon their return amid fears the compulsory COVID-19 app could pose a security risk.   The JSA said experts will screen the devices with the Beijing Games official app, My2022, installed and will delete suspicious apps if necessary, all with the permission….Read more

Japanese athletes have won a number of medals in the early days of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Their ability to display their strengths on this great stage, which comes around once every four years, reflects the strict training they have gone through.   Ski jumper Ryoyu Kobayashi won Japan’s first gold medal in the normal hill individual event at this….Read more