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Japan Times
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 2, 2022

Beijing 2022 — A second pandemic Olympics

This Friday, the 2022 Winter Olympics kick off in Beijing, the second Olympics to be held during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first ever to be held on entirely artificial snow.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / FOCUS
Jul 18, 2021

Has the world had enough of the Olympics?

The Olympics are an easy target for criticism, never more than now. Do they still matter? Or have they lost their way and strayed from whatever ideals they purport to embody?
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2022

One more time? Sapporo, like Tokyo, wants to host its second Olympics

It is hoped that plans to make use of existing facilities will allay fears over costs, but nonetheless local support for a bid for the 2030 Winter Games looks to be on the wane.
JAPAN / GEARING UP FOR THE GAMES
Jan 2, 2017

Tokyo 2020 Olympics will come and quickly go, but the legacy is all-important

The eyes of the world will be on Tokyo for more than just the 16 days that it hosts the 2020 Olympics.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 28, 2022

Pyeongchang still waiting to reap benefits of 2018 Winter Olympics

'The reality is very different from what was promised to us. Back then, locals here expected the Olympics to affect us a lot.”
Japan Times
OLYMPICS / Longform
Feb 21, 2022

After Beijing 2022, uncertainty clouds the future of the Olympics

The Olympic flame flickers amid faltering reforms and fading interest as the pandemic exposes shortcomings in the commercial goals of the Summer and Winter Games.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 15, 2022

Hosting the Olympics is costly. For China, it’s worth every billion.

For many cities, the Games make no economic sense. National pride and an enthusiasm for building transportation infrastructure change the equation for Beijing.
OLYMPICS / Longform
Aug 14, 2021

The race is on to define the legacy of Tokyo 2020

It may be too early to determine a legacy for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but that won't stop people from trying to define it even before the Paralympics have yet to begin.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2021

Despite danger and cost, Japan gambles on successful Olympics

The Tokyo Olympic Games are reaching the point of no return.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 5, 2023

The Winter Olympics have a climate problem. Could Sapporo be part of the solution?

Sapporo is touting a study showing that among all past hosts, it will be the most climate resilient as the planet warms. But residents are less than enthusiastic about hosting.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 29, 2022

One year on, Tohoku searching for legacy of ‘reconstruction Olympics’

Disaster-hit areas had welcomed the Olympics as an opportunity to express gratitude for global support after the 2011 quake, but the Tokyo 2020 Games were heavily affected by the pandemic.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2022

The mixed legacy of the 2022 Beijing Olympics

These Olympics will be remembered for nationalism, a divided global community and a profound deepening of mistrust between China and much of the world.
OLYMPICS
Feb 4, 2022

What to watch at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

Catch up on five key storylines to keep an eye on at the Games over the next couple of weeks.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 8, 2021

A memorable Olympics, but for the right reasons?

A feat of organizational planning and execution in a pandemic left even gold medalists hurrying home from an atmosphere drained of pomp and full of anxiety.
OLYMPICS / Longform
Jul 5, 2021

Twists and turns: Retracing Tokyo’s tumultuous path to the Olympics

Games organizers have been forced to confront ballooning costs, accusations of plagiarism and bribery, and — to top it all off — a crippling global pandemic.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 3, 2021

Fear of being upstaged by China fuels Japan’s Olympics push

Japan's fear of losing face against its closest regional rival has upped the ante for the Summer Games.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Aug 5, 2021

How Japan has tapped into the history of innovation at the Olympics

From electric vehicles to 5G wireless technology, Japanese technology is being showcased to the world at the Games.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 10, 2021

The domestic media largely moves on from ‘public concern’ over the Olympics

Public anxiety over the Olympics remains high, but the domestic media has moved on to other topics. Why are politicians still complaining about a focus on public concern?
Stephen Curry celebrates after making a 3-pointer against France during the men's basketball final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 11, 2024

Team USA beats France in blockbuster final to claim gold in Paris

Team USA won the gold medal for the fifth straight Olympics.
Gold medalist Sakura Motoki during the medal ceremony for the Olympic women's 62-kg freestyle event at Champs de Mars Arena in Paris on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Wrestling
Aug 11, 2024

Sakura Motoki adds to Japan's wrestling gold rush in Paris

Her victory against Ukrainian Iryna Koliadenko in the 62-kg final extended Japan's big lead in the wrestling medal table.
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks during an IOC session in Paris on Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Aug 11, 2024

Olympics chief Thomas Bach says he will not seek third term

"New times are calling for new leaders," the 70-year-old German lawyer, who has been in charge since 2013, told a session of IOC members in the French capital.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands crosses the line to win gold in the Olympic women's marathon on Sunday in Paris.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Aug 12, 2024

With marathon gold, Sifan Hassan tests the limits of endurance

Hassan had described her grueling Olympic schedule — which included three long-distance events — as one driven by curiosity.
Members of the French police stand guard on the roof of Paris' commercial court prior to the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 12, 2024

French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics

The operation was like no other in recent French history, with the around 75,000 police, soldiers and private security guards mobilized on opening night.
Algeria's Imane Khelif after she won her semifinal bout in the women's 66-kg class at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 6.
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Aug 15, 2024

Boxer Khelif names Musk and Rowling in cyber-harassment case: report

Khelif, who won a gold medal for Algeria in women’s welterweight boxing in Paris, faced intense scrutiny during the Olympics over her biological sex.
Children practice tennis at a club in Beijing on Wednesday. Zheng Qinwen's historic tennis gold at the Paris Olympics this month followed a decadeslong surge in the sport's popularity among China's burgeoning middle class.
OLYMPICS
Aug 16, 2024

China's Olympic tennis glory tracks booming middle classes

Zheng Qinwen's tennis gold at the Paris Olympics followed a decadeslong surge in the sport's popularity among China's burgeoning middle class.
Koki Ikeda competes in the men’s 20 kilometer race walk at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 1.
OLYMPICS
Nov 3, 2024

Olympic medallist Koki Ikeda vows to clear name after doping suspension

The Athletics Integrity Unit said Friday that the 26-year-old, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, had been provisionally banned for suspected blood doping.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe is one of seven people running to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee.
OLYMPICS
Nov 14, 2024

Presidential hopeful Sebastian Coe says IOC needs clear stance on gender

Coe believes the IOC is a movement that needs modernizing.
Peter Westbrook became the first African American and Asian American to win an Olympic medal in fencing at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
OLYMPICS / Fencing
Dec 2, 2024

Trailblazing Olympic fencer Peter Westbrook dies at 72

Westbrook was the first first African American and Asian American to win a medal in fencing at the Summer Games
Milano-Cortina Games organizers raised eyebrows earlier this month, announcing that they had picked Lake Placid in the United States as their Plan B for next year should anything happen to the sliding center project's timelines.
OLYMPICS
Feb 1, 2025

Sliding center for 2026 Winter Games in Italy on track, IOC says

With Feb. 6 marking one year to go until the Games, the sliding venue for the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton competitions remains on an extremely tight deadline.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan