olympic Archives - Daily Chronicles

China quietly locks down area near Beijing with Olympics a week away

28Jan

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Sports

China quietly locks down area near Beijing with Olympics a week away

Chinese authorities locked down an area neighbouring the capital city of Beijing this week following a handful of reported Covid cases, but made no public announcements about the fresh restrictions with just a week until the Winter Olympics. Around 1.2 million people in Xiong'an New Area -- a new economic zone 100 kilometres southwest of Beijing -- are no longer allowed to enter or leave their residential compounds, local virus prevention staff confirmed to AFP on Friday January 28. While recent lockdowns in China are publicly announced and widely reported by state media, the Xiong'an restrictions appear to have been introduced by stealth with no public announcements -- sparking confusion among some residents of the area. "We expect this (lockdown) to last around a week, but ...

Kipyegon clinches Kenya’s second gold in women’s 1500m

6Aug

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Kipyegon clinches Kenya’s second gold in women’s 1500m

Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon defended her title in style, setting a new Olympic record of 3:53.11 to clinch gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Kipyegon put on the nitro-burners in the last lap to overcome Olympic 5000m champion Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands who finished third, having taken charge of the race from the onset. Briton Laura Muir timed 3:54.50 to finish second as Hassan — who seemed uncharacteristically off-colour — clocked 3:55.86 in third. For most of the three-and-three-quarter lap race, Kipyegon hanged on the shoulders of Hassan, bidding her time as the Dutchwoman sought to establish daylight between herself and the rest of the pack. However, with the bell ringing for the ultimate lap, Kipyegon surged past Hassan — who has amasse...

Ethiopia’s Barega stuns Cheptegei to win Olympics 10,000m gold

30Jul

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Ethiopia’s Barega stuns Cheptegei to win Olympics 10,000m gold

Ethiopia's Selemon Barega is the new 10,000 metres Olympics champion. The 21-year-old Ethiopian, who is making his maiden appearance at the Olympics, stunned Uganda's pre-race favourite and world champion Joshua Cheptegei to second while Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo was third. Barega clocked 27:43.22 in a stunning sprint finish to take gold while Cheptegei timed 27:43.63 for silver. Kiplimo clocked 27:43.88 for as Barega's compatriot Barihu Aregawi wound fourth in 27:46.16. Barega joins a revered list of Ethiopian greats - Miruts Yifter, Haile Gabrselassi and Kenenisa Bekele - who have won the 10,000m Olympics gold. Kenya's medal hopeful Roders Kwemoi of Kenya was 7th in 27:50.06.

SIMONE BILESWITHDRAWS FROM ALL-AROUND FINALTo Focus On Mental Health

28Jul

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SIMONE BILESWITHDRAWS FROM ALL-AROUND FINALTo Focus On Mental Health

SIMONE BILES will not be defending her gold medal in the all-around final at the Tokyo Games -- the Olympics superstar has backed out of the competition to continue to focus on her mental health. 24-year-old Biles -- who withdrew from the team finals on Tuesday -- underwent further medical evaluation following the event ... and it was determined it was best she sat out Thursday's finals, USA Gymnastics said in a statement. Biles was the heavy favorite to win the event ... which would have secured the 5th gold medal of her career. It may not be the end of Biles' Olympic run, however -- there's still a chance she returns to compete in the individual events next week ... but the team says it all depends on the results of her daily evaluations. "We wholeheartedly support Simon...

Ugandan Weightlifter Goes Missing in Japan, Leaves Note

18Jul

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Ugandan Weightlifter Goes Missing in Japan, Leaves Note

A massive search has been launch to find a Ugandan weightlifter who went missing in Tokyo, one week to the start of the Olympics. Julius Ssekitoleko went missing from his team’s camp in Izumisano, a city in Osaka, western Japan on Friday, July 16. Media reports from CNN claim Ssekitoleko left a note saying he wanted to stay and work in Japan, as life in his native Uganda was difficult. The 20-year old weightlifter failed to qualify for the games after his arrival in Japan and was scheduled to fly back to Uganda on Tuesday, July 20. He was recorded at a train station purchasing a bullet train ticket to Nagoya in central Japan, reports further claim. In the said note, Ssekitoleko reportedly made it clear he did not want to return to Uganda and requested his belongings to be sent b...

Japan considers ban on Olympic spectators, prepares state of emergency for Tokyo

7Jul

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Sports

Japan considers ban on Olympic spectators, prepares state of emergency for Tokyo

Japan is considering banning all spectators from the Olympics, several sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as authorities were expected to declare a state of emergency for Tokyo to contain coronavirus infections 16 days before the Games begin. Medical experts have said for weeks that having no spectators at the Olympics would be the least risky option amid widespread public concern about the risk the Games will fuel new surges of coronavirus infections. Organisers have already banned overseas spectators and set a cap on domestic spectators at 50% of capacity, up to 10,000 people, to contain a lingering coronavirus outbreak. Officials have been wrestling with the question for months but a ruling party setback in a Tokyo assembly election on Sunday, which some allies of Prime Mi...