The Ukrainians present themselves as proud and self-confident, sad and thoughtful, and ready to give their all in the Olympic arenas. "Each of us thinks about the people who are defending our country," says Olympic champion Olha Kharlan. "It's hard, but that makes us even stronger!"
About our Olympic coverage, our Paris 2024 ticket, our way of journalism, the latest articles by Romain Molina and two outstanding TV documentaries you shouldn't miss.
A court in Norway has found the former IBU president Anders Besseberg guilty in 9 out of 11 charges of corruption. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. The 78-year-old Norwegian is appealing the sentence.
Thomas Bach fell for pranksters. Of course, this has also happened to high-ranking politicians in recent years. However, it surprises how arrogantly amateurish the IOC Sun King acts. What do his many princely-paid directors actually do for a living if they advise Bach incredibly badly?
The IOC president sought to get close to Putin even after the Sochi Doping Games. He fraternised with Xi Jinping. He politicised the 2018 Games in South Korea, driven by the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize. All a miserable failure that dragged the Games deeper into a political quagmire. A commentary.
In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises "a number of legitimate concerns".
Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.
The prosecutor in the criminal trial against the former IBU president Anders Besseberg calls for an unconditional sentence of 3 years and 7 months in prison. The verdict will be handed down on 12 April. Besseberg describes himself as the victim of a hounding: like a "wild boar" that must be shot.
On the day of the tenth anniversary of the Sochi Doping Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport published the Arbitral Award in the Kamila Valieva doping case. THE INQUISITOR will be honouring the Russia entanglements of the IOC and the world sports federations in detail this month.
For several weeks now, an online petition has been calling for "Suspend Israel from International Sports". The appeal was launched by the left-wing collective movement DiEM25. In the petition paper, fundamental facts are being omitted or deliberately distorted.
In a crushing blow for Vladimir Putin's old-style propaganda system and its systematic doping of young athletes, figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year suspension for her positive test in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympic in Beijing.
Anders Besseberg, former president of the International Biathlon Union, risks ten years in prison for corruption in a true Nordic Noir crime case that has exposed one of the largest sports scandals in the Nordic democracies in 25 years. Further investigations in other countries are still ongoing.
A few month before the Olympic Games, heralded by the IOC as a renewal of the movement, French sports are still tainted by the most serious scandals at all levels. The latest instance being the mysterious departure of the former president of the fencing federation, Bruno Gares.
A la veille des Jeux olympiques, présentés par le CIO comme le renouveau du mouvement, le sport français reste marqué par les plus graves scandales à tous les niveaux. Dernier exemple en date: le départ mystérieux et les affaires de l'ancien président de la fédération d’escrime, Bruno Gares.
Just in time for the birthday of the Russian would-be oligarch Umar Kremlev, the final sale of the media platform Insidethegames was announced. The new owners, who operate through a strange corporate construct, are old acquaintances and associates of Kremlin-affiliated Kremlev.
Russian-owned betting company 1XBet has been declared bankrupt and owes millions. Yet it still operates, using porn stars to attract punters, and is a partner of FC Barcelona. It expanded into Ukraine, but was recently banned for its support of Putin’s war machine.
