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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 9, 2022

Liverpool going on sale highlights soccer’s financial fickleness

Liverpool F.C.'s owners need a sale after more than a decade of ownership that has delivered paltry returns.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Sep 3, 2022

F1 great Lewis Hamilton hopes to see more Black ownership in sports

'I do want to get more and more involved in teams because I really do believe in Black ownership, because there is a lack of it within sports, and Black equity.'
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2022

Manchester United is a joke even to Elon Musk

Frustrated supporters briefly hoped against hope the mogul was serious when he tweeted he was buying the struggling club.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Aug 9, 2022

Women's cricket stars eye Olympic chance after Commonwealth Games

Women's cricket was on the Commonwealth Games program for the first time in Birmingham and had the spotlight to itself, with no matching men's tournament.
JAPAN / New Normal 2.0
Jun 24, 2022

Japan begins return to business-as-usual at big events — but slowly

Recent trials of allowing cheering at soccer games are indicative of the approach toward large events in the coming months: a slow, highly cautious return to some aspects of normalcy.
Japan Times
TENNIS
May 21, 2022

Naomi Osaka returns to French Open with conversation about mental health in sports ongoing

Osaka's stand a year ago sent organizers and brands scrambling to better support their athletes but progress has been incremental.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2022

In praise of sporting perfection in baseball — and then some

Roki Sasaki's April 10 showing earned him a place in the history books. But even more astounding is this: In his very next start, he threw another eight perfect innings
Japan Times
SOCCER
Apr 17, 2022

Fan tokens from Manchester City to PSG disappoint as boom fades

For many hopeful fans, soccer club tokens have failed to meet expectations, with prices quickly losing steam within days of their release.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 25, 2022

Russia facing widespread fallout as sports world condemns invasion of Ukraine

'I'm sorry for the innocent people that are losing their lives, that are getting killed for stupid reasons and a very, very strange and mad leadership,' F1 driver Sebastian Vettel said.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 14, 2022

Erin Jackson hopeful historic speedskating gold inspires other minorities to take up winter sports

'Hopefully we can see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying some of these winter sports, and I just hope to be a good example,' Jackson said.
Shohei Ohtani has been appointed as the new technology ambassador for Rapsodo, the company announced Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Apr 22, 2024

Shohei Ohtani signs deal with sports technology company Rapsodo

Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani has signed a deal to become the technology ambassador for Rapsodo, the company announced on Monday.
Yukio Kasaya (center), who won a ski jumping gold medal at the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, stands on the podium with silver medalist Akitsugu Konno (left) and bronze medalist Seiji Aochi in Sapporo in February 1972.
MORE SPORTS / Ski jumping
Apr 26, 2024

Yukio Kasaya, Japan's first Winter Olympic gold medalist, dies at 80

Kasaya led a historic podium sweep for Japan at the 1972 Olympics and was joined by Akitsugu Konno, who took silver, and Seiji Aochi, who earned bronze.
Forever Young (center), ridden by Ryusei Sakai, finished third in this year’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 4.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
May 24, 2024

Solid Kentucky Derby showing offers hope

“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” refers to the Kentucky Derby, a 2,000-meter dirt track race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds run at Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown, the second and third being the Preakness and the Belmont...
Kazuto Takesako will open his Prizefighter campaign against British boxer Mark Dickinson in Osaka on July 15.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jun 3, 2024

$1 million purse on offer at revived Prizefighter event in Osaka

Eight fighters will get their first chance to punch their way to a big payday in Osaka on July 15.
The world needs a smaller, more focused Olympics to ensure sustainability and relevance amid changing global conditions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2024

Olympics host cities don’t belong on a warming planet

The world needs a smaller, more focused Olympics to ensure sustainability and relevance amid changing global conditions.
South Africa's 49-year-old skateboarding Olympian, Dallas Oberholzer, competes in the men's prelims during the Paris Games on Aug. 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2024

The oldest Olympians might hold the key to slowing down aging

As we age, the number of mitochondria in our cells declines, but that happens much more slowly in people who continue to do strenuous exercise.
Xander Schauffele hits from the sand on the 18th fairway during the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Aug 21, 2024

Xander Schauffele: No. 1 ranking is motivator, not inflated purses

Schauffele said that there's a different motivating factor on his mind at this stage of his career — turning that No. 2 into a No. 1.
A monument of baseball legend Babe Ruth stands at Monument Park at Yankee Stadium on Feb. 25, 2009.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 26, 2024

Babe Ruth jersey sells for record-shattering price

The jersey sold for $24.1 million in an online auction.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen speaks during a news conference in Singapore on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 20, 2024

Max Verstappen riled up by call for F1 drivers to swear less

Mercedes's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton took issue with the FIA's comparison to rappers, saying there was a "racial element" at play.
Fans watch the Super Bowl at the FanDuel sportsbook in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in February 2019.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Oct 2, 2024

FanDuel sued by convicted NFL executive over gambling addiction

The complaint by Amit Patel, who was sentenced to 78 months behind bars in March, alleges that FanDuel ignored its own responsible gaming protocols.
Shohei Ohtani's success symbolizes a broader resurgence in Japanese sports, with contributing factors including increased investment in sports, modern coaching techniques and a generational shift in mindset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 11, 2024

What baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s success says about Japan

The phenom has had what many are calling the greatest season ever. But his success is also a story of change in his home country.
The Scottish city of Glasgow has been announced as the host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 22, 2024

Glasgow confirmed as host of 10-sport 2026 Commonwealth Games

The future of the 2026 edition was thrown into doubt when the Australian state of Victoria, the original hosts, withdrew last year citing rising costs.
The anterior cruciate ligament can be damaged when people play sports such as soccer and basketball, and does not heal on its own, requiring reconstructive surgery.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2024

Clinical trial to use cow tendons for ligament reconstruction

The number of patients who undergo anterior cruciate ligament surgery in Japan is about 19,000 annually, including many professional soccer players and sumo wrestlers.
Boxer Kevin Johnson displays a shirt with an image of Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 24.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Dec 13, 2024

Aging U.S. heavyweight Kevin Johnson fights on to honor Vladimir Putin in Russia

Putin granted Johnson nationality with a decree under an express procedure used for others including U.S. actor Steven Seagal.
A Netflix advertisement for the Christmas Day NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Pittsburgh Steelers at a railway station in Munich on Nov. 10
MORE SPORTS / Football
Dec 24, 2024

Christmas Day games on Netflix to help NFL expand global reach

Two games will be available to almost all of Netflix's more than 270 million international subscribers.
A falconer during the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society's event in Tokyo on Friday. Falconry predates recorded history, originating, scholars believe, when nomadic herders observed birds of prey hunting and recognized their potential as partners.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 5, 2025

Tokyo falconers keep ancient traditions soaring

While a recent showcase was all about fun and education, like other sports involving animals, falconry is also serious business for competitors at the upper echelons of the sport.
"I hope skaters who train here will go on to shine on the world stage," Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada told the Japan Times at Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a skating rink in Tachikawa, Tokyo, whose establishment she was involved in, on Jan. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Feb 11, 2025

Mao Asada sets out to safeguard the future of Japanese skating

Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a project that involved the three-time world champion, has become a dream destination for skaters.
Masamune Goto (front) pilots his boat during a powerboat racing competition at Tokyo's Tamagawa boat course on Feb. 23.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 6, 2025

Powerboat racing revs up bid to shed shadowy reputation in Japan

Powerboat racing started more than 70 years ago under a special gambling law that classifies it alongside horse racing, speedway and cycling in Japan.
Outgoing International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach delivers a speech during the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece, ahead of an election to determine his successor.
OLYMPICS
Mar 20, 2025

Strange race to lead Olympic sports gets stranger

Smear campaigns have targeted some of the leading contenders in the final days before the vote, scheduled for Thursday in Greece.

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