TRENDING FIGURE SKATING | ALPINE SKIING | SIMONE BILES
Milos Raonic
Getty Images

Milos Raonic skips Olympics due to health concerns

By Nick ZaccardiJul 15, 2016, 1:46 PM EDT
Leave a comment

Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic will skip the Rio Olympics “for a variety of health concerns including the uncertainty around the Zika virus,” according to his social media.

Raonic, 25 and ranked No. 7 in the world, became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon earlier this month. He was beaten by Olympic champion Andy Murray in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2).

Raonic lost in the second round of his Olympic debut in London to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Raonic is the second man ranked in the top 15 to skip the Olympics, joining No. 9 Dominic Thiem of Austria.

The only woman in the top 20 slated to miss Rio is No. 6 Viktoria Azarenka, who is pregnant.

MORE: World’s 546th-ranked man on U.S. tennis team for Rio

Top 30 men’s singles players missing Rio Olympics
No. 7 — Milos Raonic (CAN)
No. 9 — Dominic Thiem (AUT)
No. 16 — John Isner (USA)
No. 18 — Nick Kyrgios (AUS)
No. 19 — Bernard Tomic (AUS)
No. 20 — Feliciano Lopez (ESP)
No. 21 — Lucas Pouille (FRA)
No. 23 — Benoit Paire (FRA)
No. 29 — Sam Querrey (USA)

USOPC seeks to revoke USA Badminton’s status

Getty Images
By OlympicTalkNov 12, 2019, 6:57 PM EST
Leave a comment

More: Olympics

Sun Yang should get lengthy ban if he loses doping hearing, WADA says Yevgenia Medvedeva’s long shot is Rostelecom Cup; TV, live stream schedule U.S. beats Japan in Olympic baseball qualifier, may still need help

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland filed a complaint to revoke USA Badminton’s status as the national governing body for the sport, a year after a USOPC audit found the organization lacked athlete safety requirements.

USA Badminton “failed to meet its responsibilities as an NGB and consistently failed to meet its obligations to its members and to U.S. athletes,” according to the USOPC. “Further, USAB has failed to conduct itself in a manner that demonstrates it can fulfill those responsibilities.”

Asked for reaction, USA Badminton interim CEO Linda French said, “I’m very disappointed in the USOPC and the conduct of their staff.”

USA Badminton recently had mass resignations among its board and top officials amid governance issues and the USOPC threatening decertification. A 2018 USOPC audit found four “high risk” areas in USA Badminton’s athlete safety and SafeSport compliance that, by March, had not been fully resolved.

“We have attempted to work with USAB’s leadership over the course of the last year to address our concerns, however those efforts have not yielded the results necessary to give me confidence in USAB’s ability to continue to serve its athletes as an NGB,” Hirshland wrote. “We remain committed to working with USAB’s leadership to address our concerns but have so far not found a willing partner.”

The next step is for Hirshland to appoint an independent panel to hear the complaint. There is no specific timeline for a resolution, though Hirshland said it will take a minimum of several weeks.

If USA Badminton’s status is revoked, the USOPC would assume control on an interim basis.

Last November, the USOPC filed the same complaint against USA Gymnastics, seeking to revoke its status after the Larry Nassar sexual-abuse crimes came to light followed by several leadership changes.

USA Gymnastics since filed for bankruptcy and named former college gymnast and NBA executive Li Li Leung its new CEO in February. It remains the sport’s NGB with eight months until the Tokyo Olympics.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

MORE: Why a 62-year-old played at the world badminton championships

Sun Yang should get lengthy ban if he loses doping hearing, WADA says

Associated PressNov 12, 2019, 2:07 PM EST
Leave a comment

More: Olympics

USOPC seeks to revoke USA Badminton’s status Yevgenia Medvedeva’s long shot is Rostelecom Cup; TV, live stream schedule U.S. beats Japan in Olympic baseball qualifier, may still need help

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency wants China’s star swimmer Sun Yang banned for up to eight years for alleged doping rules violations.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Tuesday ahead of a rare appeal hearing in open court on Friday that WADA requests a ban of two to eight years. Sun served a three-month ban in 2014 for a positive test.

If WADA wins, the three-time Olympic freestyle champion will miss the Tokyo Games.

WADA has challenged world swimming body FINA’s ruling to merely warn Sun after a disputed attempt by sample collectors to take blood and urine from him at his home in China in September 2018. The late-night confrontation lasted from 11 p.m. to beyond 3:30 a.m.

The day-long hearing will examine why a secure box storing a glass vial of blood came to be destroyed by Sun’s entourage, who questioned the sample team’s authority. A FINA tribunal panel agreed the officials lacked proper credentials to make the sample collection valid.

WADA believes Sun broke anti-doping rules by refusing to submit to a sample collection.

All sides agreed to Sun’s request to hold a first CAS appeal in public for 20 years.

A verdict is unlikely until early next year.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

MORE: Ryan Lochte, with Michael Phelps’ help, says he is back at his peak