Japan Olympic Team
FILE - Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash coaches against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first half of an NBA basketball game on March 31, 2022, in New York. The East Asia Super League has started production on a reality TV series covering the inaugural season of the pan-regional basketball competition. Korean film director John H. Lee will lead the project and work with executive producers Ezra Holland, a director of CTRL Media owned by NBA great Nash. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray, File)
Dragons complete roster with 3 players from Chinese league

Aug. 10, 2022 01:31 AM EDT

Sportlight-Week Ahead, Aug. 5-11

By The Associated Press Aug. 04, 2022 10:00 AM EDT
Aug. 9 1936 — Jesse Owens becomes the first American to win four Olympic gold medals as the United States sets a world record in the 4x100 relay at the...

FILE - Haruyuki Takahashi, then executive board member of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games arrives at Tokyo 2020 Executive Board Meeting in Tokyo, Japan on March 30, 2020. Prosecutors searched the home of former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee executive board member Takahashi on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in connection with payments made to him by an Olympic sponsor of the Tokyo Games, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported. (Issei Kato/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Report: Tokyo Olympic board member under investigation

Jul. 26, 2022 01:45 AM EDT

FILE - International Olympic Committee's President Thomas Bach and Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games make the sign of a heart with their hands during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo Olympics survived the COVID-19 postponement, soaring expenses and some public opposition. A year later, the costs and benefits are as difficult to untangle as the Games were to pull off. (Dan Mullen/Pool Photo via AP)
Tokyo Olympic aftermath still being untangled a year later

By Stephen Wade Jul. 21, 2022 01:16 AM EDT

Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo, Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Hanyu is stepping away from competitive figure skating, he said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu stepping away from competitive skating

By Koji Ueda Jul. 18, 2022 09:35 PM EDT

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe speaks during a news conference before the World Athletics Championships Thursday, July 14, 2022, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Tokyo chosen to host 2025 track world championships

Jul. 14, 2022 05:47 PM EDT

FILE - Then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears as the Nintendo game character Super Mario during the closing ceremony at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Aug. 21, 2016. Despite his fame as a Japan's longest serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe might have had enjoyed his biggest moment at the closing ceremony of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro. (Yu Nakajima/Kyodo News via AP, File)
Abe impersonated 'Super Mario' to promote Tokyo Olympics

By Stephen Wade Jul. 09, 2022 01:07 AM EDT

Big Liu among first 10 recruits for Bay Area Dragons in EASL

Jun. 22, 2022 03:02 AM EDT
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Liu Chuanxing has signed on as a foundation player with the Bay Area Dragons in the East Asia Super League after leaving his mark in...

FILE - A person walks near Tokyo 2020 logo in Haneda Airport on June 14, 2021, in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic officials, meeting Tuesday, June 21, 2022, before the body is dissolved at the end of the month, were to detail the final numbers that were driven up by the pandemic, but were in record range even before that. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Tokyo closes books on delayed Games; $13 billion price tag

By Stephen Wade Jun. 21, 2022 03:08 AM EDT

Naomi Kawase, who directed the official documentary of the Tokyo Olympics, speaks to The Associated Press in Tokyo Friday, June 17, 2022. Kawase said her work was a challenge because public opinion was painfully divided, costs kept mounting, a scandal emerged over the logo design, disgruntled opening ceremony artists resigned and the Games were postponed for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Olympic filmmaker needed 2 movies to cover Tokyo turmoil

By Yuri Kageyama Jun. 17, 2022 09:50 AM EDT

FILE - The Olympic rings are displayed during the closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 20, 2022, in Beijing. A small band or protesters gathered Sunday, June 12, in central Tokyo and in the northern city of Sapporo to oppose Japan’s overtures to hold the 2030 Winter Olympics.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Small protests in Tokyo and Sapporo against Olympic bid

By Yuri Kageyama Jun. 12, 2022 08:38 AM EDT

FILE - A volunteer walks past the Olympic rings ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo on July 22, 2021. Japan's northern city of Sapporo on Monday, June 6, 2022, rejected holding a referendum to give voters a choice over bidding for the 2030 Winter Olympics. The city's assembly, controlled by Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, which is also in charge of the national government, turned down having a public vote. Its meeting was streamed online. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
Sapporo rejects holding referendum over bidding for Olympics

By Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade Jun. 06, 2022 03:09 AM EDT

Antti Pihlakoski, evaluation panel chairman of the World Athletics (WA), center left, and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, surrounded by other WA members, pose for a photo before their talk in Tokyo, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Council member Nawal El Moutawakel, back, from left, Vice President Ximena Restrepo and Director of Competitions & Events Jakob Larsen join the photo session. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Tokyo a candidate for track and field world championships

By Stephen Wade May. 25, 2022 12:44 AM EDT

FILE - Japanese film director Naomi Kawase speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on Oct. 23, 2018. The documentary film produced by Kawase about the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics premiered on Monday, May 23, 2022, shown to reporters and other invited guests in the Japanese capital. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
Tokyo Olympic film debuts in Japan; headed next to Cannes

By Stephen Wade And Yuri Kageyama May. 22, 2022 10:07 PM EDT

FILE - Japan's Rui Machida (13) drives around United States's Brittney Griner (15) and Breanna Stewart (10), right, during the women's basketball gold medal game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. Machida is a 29-year-old rookie on the WNBA Washington Mystics. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Perseverance paying off for older rookies in the WNBA

By Pat Eaton-Robb May. 20, 2022 12:08 PM EDT

FILE - Team Australia, with Tom Slingsby holding the trophy, celebrates after winning the $1 million, winner-take-all Season 2 finale of the Mubadala United States Sail Grand Prix, on March 27, 2022, in San Francisco. The Champagne showers from Team Australia's Season 2 championship have barely dried and it's already time for SailGP to start another dash for $1 million in cash. The third season of tech tycoon Larry Ellison's global league starts this weekend on the turquoise water of Bermuda's Great Sound, where, to no one's surprise, Tom Slingsby's juggernaut Aussie crew remains the one to beat. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
Slingsby's Aussies aim for SailGP 3-peat, another $1M check

By Bernie Wilson May. 13, 2022 07:33 PM EDT

FILE - South Africa's RG Snyman takes a restart during the Rugby World Cup semifinal at International Yokohama Stadium between Wales and South Africa in Yokohama, Japan, Oct. 27, 2019. The United States has landed another World Cup. The Rugby World Cup, in 2031. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
Column: US lands 2031 Rugby World Cup, if anyone cares

By Paul Newberry May. 13, 2022 04:12 PM EDT

Rugby Australia President David Codey speaks during a media event ahead of the final vote for the hosting of the Rugby World Cups in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, May 12, 2022. World Rugby will announce the host nations for the men's and women's World Cups for the period 2025-2033 with Australia heavily favored to host the men's 2027 and women's tournaments in 2029. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
US to host men's and women's Rugby World Cups for first time

By Steve Douglas May. 12, 2022 01:58 PM EDT

Ukraine team members climb on the Olympic Rings to pose for photo in the Olympic Village at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. Backers of Sapporo, Japan, to hold the 2030 Winter Olympics have gotten together to promote their bid. The Japanese city is competing with Salt Lake City, Vancouver, and a Spanish group that wants to return the Olympics to Barcelona. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
All-Japan committee meets to promote Sapporo Olympic bid

By Stephen Wade And Yuri Kageyama May. 10, 2022 02:41 AM EDT

FILE - Belgium's Emma Meesseman (11) drives to the basket between China's Siyu Wang, left, and Yueru Li, right, during a women's basketball preliminary game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 2, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. Meesseman, the 2019 WNBA Finals MVP, decided to join the league's reigning champion Chicago Sky as a free agent. Meesseman missed last season while helping Belgium prep for the Tokyo Olympics. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
China's 6-10 Han among international WNBA players to watch

By Doug Feinberg May. 06, 2022 02:20 AM EDT