A trio of reigning Olympic speed skating champions said Wednesday they’re looking forward to their title defense on a familiar ice surface at the upcoming Sochi Winter Games.Lee Sang-hwa, the women’s 500-meter gold medalist from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, was joined by Mo Tae-bum, the men’s 500 m champ from Vancouver, and Lee Seung-hoon, the men’s 10,000 m winner four years ago, at their joint press conference at the National Training Center in Seoul.They all spoke of their affinity for

The countdown to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi reached 30 days on Wednesday, as South Korean athletes set their sight on another top-10 finish in the medal table.   With the clock ticking down, it was business as usual for the athletes at the National Training Center in Seoul, where they're gearing up for the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games in Russia.   Figure skater Kim Yu-na, who will try to win her second straight Olympic gold, and speed skaters Mo Tae-bum and Lee Sang-hwa, two defending Olym

As the clock ticks down on the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian resort town of Sochi, South Korea is hoping to duplicate the historic success it enjoyed in Vancouver four years ago, represented by what should be the country's largest-ever Winter Games delegation.The countdown will hit 30 days on Wednesday for the Feb. 7-23 Sochi Winter Olympics, where South Korea will aim for another strong performance.At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, South Korea won an all-time high of 14 med

Speed skating world record holder Lee Sang-hwa is a sure bet to become a two-time Olympic champion in the women’s 500 meters at the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi, her Canadian-born coach said on Thursday.Kevin Crockett said it was easy to see that the 24-year-old had been “dominating.”“I don’t expect that to change,” Crockett said on the sidelines of a pre-Olympic function for Winter Games athletes at the National Training Center in northern Seoul. “I don’t expect (the women’s 500 m in Sochi) t

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama named openly gay athletes to the delegation that will represent the U.S. next year at opening and closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Sochi, sending a clear signal to Russia about its treatment of gays and lesbians.Tennis champion Billie Jean King will join the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony, while Caitlin Cahow, a women’s ice hockey player and Olympic medalist, will represent the U.S. at the closing ceremony. Both athletes have identif

Speed skating world record holder Lee Sang-hwa said Tuesday she feels there is still room for improvement ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.Lee made the remark after receiving the Female Athlete of the Year award, presented by a local cable network and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation.She beat out figure skater Kim Yu-na, who won her second career world title in March this year, and the world’s No. 1-ranked

LONDON (AP) ― The International Olympic Committee is putting up $20 million to fight doping and match-fixing ― considered the two biggest threats to the credibility of the Games.New IOC president Thomas Bach announced the funding projects Saturday following an unprecedented four-day “brainstorming session” with his executive board in the Swiss resort of Montreux that focused on key issues for the future of the Olympics.Bach, who was elected in September to succeed Jacques Rogge as president, has

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's chief weather forecaster says Sochi will have enough snow for the Winter Olympics in February.Two test events in Sochi had to be cancelled last February because of lack of snow or rainy weather in the area, which is the only sub-tropical region of Russia.Organizers have stored snow and installed what they described as Europe's biggest snow-making system to make sure there's enough snow for the games, which begin on Feb. 7.Roman Vilfand, director of the Russian Meteorologi

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― IOC president Thomas Bach said Russia will set up public protest zones in Sochi during the Winter Olympics, a move unlikely to defuse criticism of the country’s human rights record and a recent law banning gay “propaganda.”With the opening ceremony less than two months away, Bach said Sochi organizers notified him of the decision during their report to the International Olympic Committee executive board on Tuesday.Bach, chairing his first board meeting since being el

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) ― The International Olympic Committee has dropped an ethics investigation into a South Korean member accused of plagiarism.IOC president Thomas Bach says the ethics commission closed the case into athlete member Moon Dae-sung, a former gold medalist in taekwondo who was accused of plagiarizing much of his university doctorate thesis.The investigation began in April 2012.Bach says the IOC repeatedly asked the university for its own findings, but has yet to receive its d