China picks Uyghur athlete to light Olympic cauldron

Families of refugee athletes who come from Kenya's Kakuma settlement have been sending them prayers and messages of hope, before they compete at the Olympic Games. They are among 29 athletes and refugees scheduled to compete in Tokyo in 12 sports, under the banner of the Olympic flag, according to the UNHCR. This is only the second appearance of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. The first was in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango, a bronze medallist in the triple jump at the Tokyo Games, comes home to cheering fans and celebratory dances after winning the first Olympic medal for the country.

As the Tokyo Olympics draws to a close, a flypast above the French capital and a party in front of the landmark Trocadero building marks the handover of the Games to Paris.

The star of Italy's Olympic team, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, returned home as a national hero on Monday after the country's best performance in the Games' history capped an unforgettable summer of sport for the Mediterranean nation. Jacobs produced arguably the shock result of the Olympics -– and one of the biggest shocks in Olympic history -- when he claimed victory in the 100m, storming out of athletics obscurity to take gold in a time of 9.80sec.

With less than 1,000 days to go until Euro 2024 kicks off, the UEFA unveils the logo for the European Championship at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. This is the first time that the Germany will host the European competition, which will take place from June 7 to July 7, 2024. Only West Germany hosted the competition in 1988.

Allyson Felix says she is proud of fellow sports stars speaking out on mental health issues, although more has to be done to support athletes including those with young children. Felix was speaking shortly before being confirmed as Sportswoman of the Year at the Annual Salute to Women awards in New York. Tennis player Naomi Osaka, who spoke about her mental health problems earlier this year, was given the Wilma Rudolph Courage Award. Felix, 35, is now the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time at the Olympics, and no American has won more than her 11 medals, which included a gold and a bronze in Tokyo.

Cricket Australia (CA) confirmed on Friday (November 5) it has postponed the Afghanistan test in Hobart scheduled for Nov. 27 until the situation regarding the women's game in the South Asian nation becomes clearer. CA had said in September it would scrap the test if the Taliban government, which took power in August, did not allow women and girls to play the sport.

American speed skater Erin Jackson's dream of chasing gold in her signature 500 meters event at next month's Beijing Olympics is back on after a selfless act from a good friend and teammate who gave up her own spot on Sunday.

Early visitors to the Main Press Centre at the Beijing Winter Olympics have been delighted to discover that ice cream is served to them by robots. To buy the ice cream, one must go to the cashier to pay first and get a receipt with a QR code, which you then scan on the machine and the robot will automatically kick into action.

The Olympic torch relay began its second day on Thursday (February 3) atop the Great Wall, with Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan and Chinese Olympic medallists among those taking turns carrying the flame along a route shortened to three days because of COVID-19. The relay for the torch that will open the Feb. 4-20 Winter Games is much more modest than the globe-spanning relay for Beijing's 2008 Summer Games, a tour that was disrupted by protests.

China's decision to have a Uyghur athlete light the Olympic cauldron has drawn criticism from human rights groups, who saw it as cheap propaganda ploy to whitewash the oppression of the country's ethnic Uyghur minority.

South Koreans expressed frustration on Wednesday (February 9) after seeing their traditional costume used in last week's Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing, but the Chinese Embassy in South Korea defended the use. A woman wearing what appeared to be a Korean hanbok dress was among those representing China's different ethnic groups during the ceremony. Some South Koreans have complained about recent Chinese assertions that various aspects of Korean culture are of Chinese origin.