The official emblem of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games was unveiled on Friday. The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) held simultaneous ceremonies in two places ― Seoul and PyeongChang in Gangwon Province ― to disclose the emblem.The emblem was also disclosed worldwide through its website.The design of the emblem has its roots in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. The emblem consists of the initial consonants of two Korean words ― Pyeon

GWANGJU ― Gwangju took one step closer to its dream of hosting the 2019 World Aquatics Championships Tuesday as it completed a crucial test by an evaluation team from the International Swimming Federation (FINA).The team, who arrived here on Monday, wrapped up the inspection Tuesday with a tour of two sites ― an aquatic venue to be constructed at Nambu University, and Naju Lake where open-water and high-diving events will take place.Gwangju plans to cluster a water polo pool, a synchronized swim

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― Facing a wave of criticism from around the world, IOC president Jacques Rogge will meet with the head of wrestling’s governing body to discuss ways the sport can fight to save its place in the Olympics.The IOC executive board dropped wrestling from the program of the 2020 Games on Tuesday, a decision which brought a sharp backlash from wrestling organizations and national Olympic bodies around the world ― including the United States, Russia and Iran.The move must sti

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― An official familiar with the decision says IOC leaders have dropped wrestling from the program for the 2020 Olympics.In a surprise decision Tuesday, the offficial tells The Associated Press that the IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon and remove wrestling instead.The official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the decision hadn’t been announced yet.The IOC board reviewed the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one

South Korea’s top former judo official on Wednesday declared his candidacy for the country’s highest sports job, vowing to use his administrative experience to strengthen the foundation for elite sports in the country.Kim Jung-haeng, former head of the Korea Judo Association, said he will run for the chairmanship of the Korean Olympic Committee. He is currently one of three vice chairmen of the KOC.The former national judo team star is trying to become the first ex-athlete to head the KOC in the

JINCHEON (Yonhap News) ― The global Olympic chief on Friday acknowledged South Korea’s commitment to excellence in sports and praised the country’s preparations for the upcoming Winter Olympics.Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee, paid a visit to the Jincheon National Training Center, a national training ground for Olympic athletes located about 90 kilometers south of Seoul.Addressing South Korean sports officials and athletes, Rogge said the facility, which opene

David Miller, a British sports journalist who covered the Olympics for more than 50 years, was skeptical going into YongPyong Dome Tuesday night as the opening ceremony unfurled a procession of formal speech-making for the Special Olympics in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province.Miller’s skepticism was perhaps unsurprising for a veteran sports journalist. He was a senior staff reporter for The Times of London for 15 years and had been covering the Olympics since the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. He has seen

PYEONGCHANG ― Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday that those struggling for democracy and human rights in her country can draw inspiration and strength from the some 3,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from all over the world competing in this year’s Special Olympics. The thousands of athletes who gathered in PyeongChang to compete in the world winter games hail from over 120 countries, from different regions and cultures. Yet, a common story of neglect and isolat

Sports festival to award not only medalists but also fourth-to-eighth placers

Three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton was a Las Vegas prostitute for the past year and said it was “a huge mistake,” thesmokinggun.com reported.Favor Hamilton, 44, said her husband knew about her secret life as a call girl with an escort service, the report said.“I take full responsibility for my mistakes. I‘m not the victim and I’m not going that route. I‘m owning up to what I did. I would not blame anybody except myself,” she said. “Everybody in this world makes mistakes. I made a huge mista