Poland
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

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)
IOC's Bach says Olympics on history's side in Russia issue

By Andrew Dampf And Graham Dunbar Feb. 12, 2023 07:00 AM 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

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, centre, attends a joint news conference with Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, right, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte during their meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, Friday, Feb. 3, 2023. The prime ministers of the three Baltic countries meet in Tallinn to discuss, among other things, joint aid efforts for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
Ukraine pushes to exclude Russia from 2024 Paris Olympics

By Hanna Arhirova Feb. 03, 2023 08:26 AM EST

FILE - A woman passes by the Olympic rings at the City Hall in Paris, on July 25, 2022. Latvia is threatening to boycott next year’s Paris Olympics if athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus are allowed to take part after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
IOC details Russia stance for Olympics, cites human rights

By Graham Dunbar Feb. 02, 2023 03:52 PM EST

Spain's Juancho Hernangomez, right, is challenged by Guerschon Yabusele of France, left, during the Eurobasket final basketball match between Spain and France in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Spain wins EuroBasket title, topping France 88-76 for gold

Sep. 18, 2022 05:08 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

A man walks past the Gazprom Arena, the stadium that was supposed to host the Champions League 2022 final soccer match in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, May 28, 2022, with a sculpture of one of Bolshevik's leader Sergei Kirov in the foreground. UEFA removed Saint Petersburg as the host of the final due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian crisis. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)
Sports court sets July dates for Russian soccer ban appeals

By Graham Dunbar Jun. 22, 2022 08:02 AM EDT

FILE - Gold medalist Anita Wlodarczyk, of Poland, poses during the medal ceremony for the women's hammer throw at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 4, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Wlodarczyk will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for a thigh injury she sustained while chasing a thief trying to break into her car, it was announced Wednesday, June 15, 2022. The three-time Olympic gold medalist from Poland wrote on Instagram that she “totally severed” a thigh muscle during the incident last week, but remains intent on competing at the 2024 Paris Games. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, file)
Olympic champ Wlodarczyk out for season after chasing thief

Jun. 15, 2022 08:11 AM EDT

A screen shows support to Ukraine before the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Manchester City at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, Feb. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Russia ready again for urgent court case over World Cup ban

By Graham Dunbar Mar. 04, 2022 12:40 AM EST

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin touches the World Cup trophy as FIFA President Gianni Infantino stands beside him, at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. In a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia after invading Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude the country's athletes and officials from international events. The decision opened the way for FIFA, the governing body of soccer, to exclude Russia from a World Cup qualifying playoff match on March 24. Poland has refused to play the scheduled game against Russia.(AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
Croatia vs France 7/15/2018

Feb. 28, 2022 12:12 PM EST

FILE - The Russian national flag, right, flies after it is hoisted next to the Olympic flag during the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia on Feb. 23, 2014. The International Olympic Committee has made a sweeping move to isolate and condemn Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Russia facing sports isolation over invasion of Ukraine

By Graham Dunbar Feb. 28, 2022 06:57 AM EST

FILE - A general view of the St. Petersburg Stadium prior to the Confederations Cup soccer match between New Zealand and Portugal, in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 24, 2017. The British government led calls Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022 for the Champions League final to be taken off Russia by European football's governing body to punish its deepening intervention in Ukraine. The showpiece men's game is due to be played in St. Petersburg on May 28 for the biggest sporting event in Russia since the 2018 World Cup.(AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, file)
Euro backlash as FIFA refuses to expel Russia from football

By Rob Harris Feb. 27, 2022 05:53 AM EST

FILE Poland's Robert Lewandowski controls the ball during the World Cup 2022 group I qualifying soccer match between Poland and England, at the Narodowy stadium in Warsaw, Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. Poland is refusing to play its World Cup qualifier against Russia next month in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Polish soccer federation president said Saturday, Feb, 26, 2022. Poland striker Robert Lewandowski, the nation's all-time leading scorer, immediately responded to say it's the “right decision!” (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski, File)
England vs Poland 9/8/2021

Feb. 26, 2022 11:46 AM EST

A soldier's helmet with a bullet hole near debris of burning military trucks, in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Poland, Sweden refuse to play Russia in World Cup playoffs

Feb. 26, 2022 11:43 AM EST

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Beijing. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP)
In opening of Winter Olympics, chances at politicking abound

By Adam Schreck Feb. 04, 2022 07:08 AM EST

Injured Polish luge athlete picked for Beijing Olympics

By Tim Reynolds Jan. 19, 2022 12:31 PM EST
A Polish luge athlete who was seriously injured in a November training crash at the track built for next month’s Olympics plans to head back to that venue and...

FILE -Ryoyu Kobayashi of Japan soars through the air during his second trial jump at the third stage of the 70th Four Hills ski jumping tournament in Innsbruck, Austria, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022. Even World-class athletes who compete in ski jumping and a former Olympian paid to analyze the sport have no idea who will win gold in Beijing. Defending Olympic champion Kamil Stoch has an injured left leg that is knocking him out of World Cup competition this week in his native Poland and puts his status for the 2022 Winter Olympics up in the air. Japan's Ryoyu Kobayashi is the world's top-ranked ski jumper. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Japan’s Kobayashi among favorites in wide-open ski jumping

By Larry Lage Jan. 14, 2022 12:14 PM EST

Jan Hoerl of Austria in action during the team competition of the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup Ski Jump, in Wisla, Poland, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
HK U23 Football Team vs Lee Man FC 12/5/2021

Dec. 11, 2021 03:38 AM EST