War and unrest
Ukraine set to boycott judo worlds after Russians allowed

Apr. 30, 2023 11:21 AM EDT
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Ukraine is set to boycott the world judo championships next week after the International Judo Federation signaled it will allow Russian and...

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, right, speaks at the opening of the executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. The IOC Executive Board is set to discuss the results of consultations regarding the status of athletes from Russia and Belarus in its meeting set to run until March 30. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)
European lawmakers urge for Olympics ban on Russia, Belarus

By Graham Dunbar Apr. 25, 2023 02:06 PM EDT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks to the media at joint press conference with Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger, Moldova's President Maia Sandu, Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob and Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic during Bucha Summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Polish president Duda hails a European Games without Russia

By Graham Dunbar Apr. 03, 2023 04:29 PM EDT

A boy sits on a climbing frame in a playground in front of missile-damaged buildings ahead of a visit by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, March 27, 2023. Zelenskyy has been increasing his travel across Ukraine as his country's war with Russia enters its second year. A team of journalists from The Associated Press traveled with Zelenskyy aboard his train for two nights as he visited troops along the front lines and communities that have been liberated from Russian control. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Olympic head slams 'deplorable' government views on Russia

By Graham Dunbar Mar. 30, 2023 10:07 AM EDT

FILE - Mariya Lasitskene, of Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after winning the women's high jump final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021, in Tokyo. Track and field leaders signaled Thursday, March 23, 2023, that it will be nearly impossible for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics next year if the war in Ukraine continues.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians at Olympics

By Graham Dunbar Mar. 27, 2023 06:43 AM EDT

FILE - International Olympic Committee, IOC, President Thomas Bach attends the opening of the Executive Board meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Dec. 5, 2022. Bach defended his organization's efforts to create a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to Olympic competition in a speech in his home country of Germany which took place amid a pro-Ukraine protest, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, (Denis Balibouse/Pool Photo via AP, File)
IOC's Bach defends Russia stance amid pro-Ukraine protest

Mar. 22, 2023 06:15 PM EDT

FILE - Canada's Alex Bilodeau celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's moguls final at the 2014 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 10, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. A group of 42 retired Canadian Olympians, including Bilodeau, urged the Canadian Olympic Committee Wednesday, March 8, 2023, to reject the idea of allowing Russians to participate in next year's Paris Games. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)
Canadian Olympians push for opposition to Russians in Paris

By Eddie Pells Mar. 08, 2023 09:10 PM EST

Ukrainian sisters Maryna, left, and Vladyslava Aleksiiva speak during a practice session, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. The path to the 2024 Paris Olympics for Ukrainian athletes is clouded by war, anger and pain. Russian bombardments have wrecked training venues. Air raids disrupt training sessions. Athletes have lost family members and friends. Or they worry that they will. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
War, anger cloud Ukrainian athletes' path to Paris Olympics

By John Leicester Mar. 02, 2023 02:33 AM EST

FILE - Ukraine supporters unfurl a "Stop War" banner on the stands during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Ukraine and Armenia, in Lodz, Poland, on June 11, 2022. One year after the invasion of Ukraine began, Russia's reintegration into the world of sports threatens to create the biggest rift in the Olympic movement since the Cold War. (AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk)
Russia's sports exile persists 1 year after invading Ukraine

By The Associated Press Feb. 22, 2023 09:25 AM EST

IOC (International Olympic Committee) president Thomas Bach walks in the finish area of the alpine ski, men's World Championship downhill, in Courchevel, France, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Nations: No clarity on neutrality, no Olympics for Russia

By Eddie Pells Feb. 20, 2023 08:00 AM EST

Vadym Gutzeit, Ukraine's Youth and Sport Minister and President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. Gutzeit has pushed for a total ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games in an interview with The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukrainian Olympic head on Russian rival: 'He is my enemy'

By John Leicester And Hanna Arhirova Feb. 15, 2023 05:13 AM EST

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, left, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sign a declaration of unity at a military facility in Lulworth, Dorset, England, Wednesday Feb. 8, 2023. (Andrew Matthews/Pool via AP)
Zelenskyy tells summit 'no place' for Russia at Olympics

Feb. 09, 2023 07:55 PM EST

Ukraine's Ivan Kovbasnyuk speeds down the course during the super G portion of an alpine ski, men's World Championship combined race, in Courchevel, France, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Ukrainian skier pushes to keep Russians out of the Olympics

By Andrew Dampf Feb. 07, 2023 02:13 PM EST

FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. Instead of arriving overland, the symbolic flame alighting the Paris 2024 Games will take to the seas from its birthplace in Greece, arriving aboard a three-masted tall ship in the French port of Marseille. Paris 2024 organizers announced the flame's journey Friday Feb.3, 2023 at City Hall in Marseille, a former Greek colony founded 2,600 years ago. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
Column: IOC talks tough on Russia — until Paris on horizon

By Paul Newberry Feb. 03, 2023 04:29 PM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2014 file photo Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and IOC President Thomas Bach meet in the Bolshoi Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia. The question of if and how Russia competes at the Olympics hangs over the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Just as it has now for five straight Olympics during Thomas Bach’s leadership of the IOC. The Bach-led International Olympic Committee's support this week for some Russians to compete in Paris as neutrals was publicly challenged Friday, Jan. 27, 2023 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service via AP, file)
Olympic echoes of boycott era as Ukraine vs IOC intensifies

Feb. 03, 2023 03:12 PM EST

FILE- Gene Sykes claps after City Council voted 12-0 to endorse documents at the heart of its plan to stage the Summer Olympics for the third time since 1932, in Los Angeles on Aug. 11, 2017. The new leader of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has reiterated the federation’s support for exploring a way for Russian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics as neutrals. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
USOPC: Russian pathway possible, but sanctions must remain

By Eddie Pells Feb. 01, 2023 08:59 PM EST

FILE - Former heavyweight boxing world champion Wladimir Klitschko leaves after a meeting with German Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck in Berlin, March 31, 2022. Olympic gold medalist Wladimir Klitschko has joined Ukraine’s fight against IOC plans to let some Russians compete at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, it was announced Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. The former heavyweight world champion has suggested in a video message sports leaders will be accomplices to the war if athletes from Russia and its military ally Belarus can compete at the next Olympics. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, file)
Boxer Klitschko joins fight against Olympic path for Russia

By Graham Dunbar Jan. 31, 2023 11:05 AM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2014 file photo Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and IOC President Thomas Bach meet in the Bolshoi Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia. The question of if and how Russia competes at the Olympics hangs over the 2024 Paris Summer Games. Just as it has now for five straight Olympics during Thomas Bach’s leadership of the IOC. The Bach-led International Olympic Committee's support this week for some Russians to compete in Paris as neutrals was publicly challenged Friday, Jan. 27, 2023 by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service via AP, file)
Russia issue looms for Paris Olympics, Zelenskyy rebukes IOC

By Graham Dunbar Jan. 28, 2023 09:36 AM EST

FILE - United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee Board Chairperson and President Susanne Lyons speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. Lyons conceded Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, that it would be “impossible” to monitor which athletes have supported the war in Ukraine if a plan is devised to allow some Russians to compete as neutrals in international competitions, and potentially the Olympics. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
USOPC sees 'impossible' hurdle to Russian return to Olympics

By Eddie Pells Dec. 12, 2022 12:36 PM EST

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during a ceremony to sign the treaties for four regions of Ukraine to join Russia, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. The signing of the treaties making the four regions part of Russia follows the completion of the Kremlin-orchestrated "referendums." (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
IOC's Bach eyes return to sports for anti-war Russians

By Graham Dunbar Sep. 30, 2022 11:31 AM EDT