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Om Yun-Chol of North Korea competes during the men’s 56 kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games’ weightlifting events in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 7. (Nic Bothman/European Pressphoto Agency) It’s hard to fathom the excitement and stress athletes from all over the world feel when competing at the Olympic Games. But imagine if you were in Rio representing one of the most notoriously authoritarian regimes in the world. How would you feel then? Would you…

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“I am so happy because it is my first competition in the Olympics,” the Ethiopian told Reuters. “It didn’t matter where I finished.” Well, it kind of did matter. Footage of Habte’s race ricocheted around social media, as did pictures of Habte’s, shall we say, less than svelte physique. Standing 5-foot-9 and weighing in at 178 pounds, complete with Dad Bod paunch, Habte looked more like those of who watch…

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Jack Laugher and Chris Mears win diving gold Joe Clarke: who is the Team GB canoe slalom gold medallist? Max Whitlock ends Team GB’s 108-year wait in gymnastics Team GB defeat Argentina in sudden death in rugby Team GB’s Rio 2016 gold rush is well and truly underway after historic victories for kayaker Joe Clarke and synchro divers Chris Mears and Jack Laugher. Clarke, 23, kick-started GB’s quest for Olympic gold with…

Fehaid Al-Deehani, competing for the Independent Olympic Athletes, defeats Italian Marco Innocenti in the double trap gold medal match. Al-Deehani, 49, is of Kuwaiti descent, but sanctions forbid the nation from participating in the Olympics. This is the first Olympic gold medal for the IOA, and first medal since the 1992 Barcelona Games. All of the medals have come in shooting competitions.  A solider in Kuwait, Al-Deehani ruled himself out…

BOSTON – It’s only natural to assume Tim Tebow’s quest to play professional baseball is little more than a publicity stunt, but the former major-leaguer training the Heisman Trophy winner believes his protégé can make a successful transition to a new sport. Chad Moeller, a former Yankees catcher who played for seven teams during an 11-year big-league career, has been working with Tebow since late-May, helping the former…

Every year, we hear about different sports that are allowed to become official Olympic events, or sports that are events on a temporary basis, but they’re often just the same old sports, like baseball and softball. While I’m not necessarily coming up with some sports that should be in the Olympics, I’m talking about some physical sports disciplines that should definitely be Olympic events. I’ll try to cite examples as…

x Embed x Share Here are the best photos from Wednesday’s action in Rio. The U.S. team celebrates after winning the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY Sports) RIO DE JANEIRO — Add another gold medal to Katie Ledecky’s ever-growing pile. Ledecky anchored the U.S. women’s 4×200 freestyle relay, leading the Americans cruise to victory ahead of Australia and Canada, who won silver and bronze respectively. In the…

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The divers had to battle against steady rain and wind in the open-air diving pool – as well as murky green water because of algae – but Laugher, 21, joked that “we enjoy it in the rain, with the wind and the clouds, it’s English weather isn’t it?” The best friends, who share a flat in Leeds, pulled off a 3.9 difficulty dive – the highest possible difficulty rating –…

Every few years, the world tunes in to watch the Olympic Games. From Salt Lake City to London to Beijing, cities across the globe have played host to the illustrious games with hundreds of athletes anxiously vying for their spot in history. But with hosting comes great responsibility, and often new construction that takes years to complete.  The construction, as we’ve seen, can involve destruction. It can also lead to…

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BOSTON – It’s only natural to assume Tim Tebow’s quest to play professional baseball is little more than a publicity stunt, but the former major-leaguer training the Heisman Trophy winner believes his protégé can make a successful transition to a new sport. Chad Moeller, a former Yankees catcher who played for seven teams during an 11-year big-league career, has been working with Tebow since late-May, helping the former…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »

Maybe Tim Tebow’s attempt at playing professional baseball isn’t a Hail Mary after all. While Tebow hasn’t played competitive baseball since high school, current Gulf Coast League Red Sox manager and scout Tom Kotchman witnessed a moment not too long ago that gives him reason to believe the former Jets quarterback could play professional baseball. “The lone time I personally saw Tebow on a baseball field was when he threw…

One of the joys of the Olympics is getting to watch esoteric sports you’ve possibly never heard of. A couple of days in, and you’ll find yourself dictating the finer points of rhythmic gymnastics to bemused onlookers, or explaining the workings of the modern pentathlon in great detail to your cat. The question of why certain wonderfully obscure sports make it into the Olympics while others don’t, however, is more…

ESPN sportscaster John Saunders, who has hosted “The Sports Reporters” for the last 15 years, has died, the network announced Wednesday. He was 61. Saunders joined ESPN in 1986. He did play-by-play on various sports, hosted NHL Stanley Cup Final coverage and World Series coverage and hosted studio shows for baseball, college football and college basketball. A cause of death was not announced. Saunders took over as host of “The…

We’re on the ground in Rio covering the 2016 Summer Olympics. Check out all our coverage here. RIO DE JANEIRO — U.S. soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo’s two howlers (read: very terrible plays) last night against Colombia led to a shocking 2-2 draw for the U.S. women’s soccer team, who still advance first in the group at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro despite Solo’s between-the-legs gaffe. More Sports It…