Latest news with #MilanoCortinaWinterOlympics
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
In Ingebrigtsen's Norway an all-season, all-round sports push
Mumbai: Last month, a contingent of 200-odd Norwegian athletes and coaches assembled in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria for a camp. It featured the country's prospects for next year's Milano Cortina Winter Olympics from across all disciplines except biathlon. This all-encompassing huddled base may only have been for athletes' basic training, but the model of cross-functional knowledge sharing is fairly unique to Norway and how sports federations operate in the country of 5.5 million. 'This model will not work in all countries, given the scale. It's unique to Norway – a sort of hub that brings athletes together and gets them to interact and learn from one another,' Tore Ovrebo, sports director at Olympiatoppen, told HT. Olympiatoppen is the Norwegian Sports Federation's elite sports programme responsible for Norway's Olympics and Paralympics preparation and performance. The model not only ensured that Norway walked away as the top-performing nation from the last three Winter Games, but also with double the medals from the Summer Olympics of 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Paris (8 each) compared to 2016 Rio (4). The gold count spiked from nil in Rio to four each in Tokyo and Paris. Eight medals are by no means eye-catching. Yet for a country with greater pedigree at the Winter Games, finishing as the 18th best nation at the Paris Olympics is noteworthy. India, for context, were 71st with six medals. Ovrebo observes a trend vis-a-vis Norway and the Olympics of a few sports tailing off from Tokyo to Paris (like triathlon) and some making the world sit up and take notice. If athletics (two gold, one silver) stands out in that, Norway's spread in Paris also extended to handball, weightlifting, sailing, volleyball and wrestling. The country also flaunts world-class football, tennis, golf and chess players. 'Some sports have risen at a high level, and that has inspired others,' said Ovrebo. What inspired Norway's all-round all-season sports push, ironically, was a dip in their pull at the Winter Olympics. In the 1988 edition, Norway did not win a single gold. 'A national catastrophe,' Ovrebo said. It compelled the country to infuse professionalism in sports and replace the 'blazer people with training gear people' to run federations. Ovrebo, a rowing Olympian in charge of Norway's elite sports programme since 2013, is an example himself. Norway hosting the 1994 Winter Games also proved a catalyst in building a model that nudged more people into the sporting ecosystem and aided cross-functionality. 'Everyone started working together and established a system that is still working,' Ovrebo said. In the heart of that system lies over 9,000 clubs, where not only do plenty of kids spend time but their parents help out as volunteers. 'So, a very big part of our population is involved in sports,' Ovrebo said. Children are encouraged to play multiple sports at a young age and not blinker down to sport-specific and result-driven mindset. 'If you specialise too early and start to see yourself through results, it can be difficult when results are not there anymore. We want them to excel, but not at a young age.' It, of course, helps that Norway is a rich country, and sports, unlike say in India, is not a way out of poverty. Wealth helps invest in top-class sporting infrastructure, and corporate entities are equally eager to add to the pot. 'Most of our finances come from the business community. It has worked well for three decades, but we need to work hard to keep it up,' Ovrebo said. As young athletes grow and narrow down their sport, talent in clubs and schools is identified through the Norwegian federation's regional centres, which start recruiting those in the 15-19 age-group into the junior national setup. Camps like in Gran Canaria are routinely organised but outside of that, athletes are given freedom to work with their own coaches. Ovrebo and his team remain in constant touch with the coaches for the athlete's roadmap and progress. Coach development projects also form a big part of their job. Olympiatoppen houses a high-performance centre in Oslo that some elite athletes use occasionally, yet not frequently. What it does consistently provide is expertise in personnel like physios, doctors and trainers. 'We share our specialists with the various sports federations, which also makes it cost effective for them,' Ovrebo said. It's a largely inclusive and in-house system, which doesn't force talent to hunt for training or coaching options outside Norway. 'We don't like that model,' Ovrebo said. 'Still, it's an individualistic judgement.' Ovrebo and his team began work for the 2028 LA Olympics three years ago, when they first visited the next hosts. The planning process starts well in advance to complement the cohesive system. And, along the way when Norway produces Olympic champions in decathlon (Markus Rooth) and 1500m/5000m (Jakob Ingebrigtsen), it reinforces the belief in the model. 'You don't have to be from Ethiopia to become a long-distance runner. You can come from a little town in Norway,' Ovrebo said. 'We have the belief that it is possible to be good in any sport. We just have to work the right way. Then, magic can happen.'
The Star
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Olympics-Russian teams remain banned from competing at 2026 Winter Games
FILE PHOTO: 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics - News conference to present Olympic and Paralympic torches - Milan, Italy - April 14, 2025 The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and Paralympic torches are displayed during a ceremony REUTERS/Claudia Greco/File Photo PARIS (Reuters) -Russian teams, including the country's powerful national ice hockey side, remain banned from competing at next year's Milano-Cortina winter Olympics as part of sanctions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday. The IOC was responding to reports out of Russia that hockey officials from the country had held talks with the international ice hockey federation (IIHF) over Olympic participation. "The IOC Executive Board recommendation from March 2023 with regard to teams of athletes with a Russian passport remains in place," the IOC said. "It is based on the fact that, by definition, a group of Individual Neutral Athletes cannot be considered a team. We take note that the IIHF has confirmed that it will follow this recommendation. A small number of individual Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to take part in the Paris 2024 summer Olympics after rigorous vetting by the IOC. They competed without the Russian or Belarusian flag and anthem. Instead they took part as neutral athletes. All Russian teams were banned. Belarus has acted as a staging ground for the invasion. Four Russian figure skaters in men's and women's singles were recently approved by the International Skating Union to try to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics as neutral athletes. Russian ice hockey players won gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and silver four years later in Beijing. The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October 2023 for recognising regional Olympic councils for Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. "This (October 2023) recommendation was made after consultations with the International Federations concerned and the other Olympic Movement stakeholders," the IOC said. "This position reflects the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee because of its annexation of regional sports organisations on the territory of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine." "Such action constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognised by the IOC in accordance with the Olympic Charter," the Olympic body said. The Winter Olympics in Italy run from February 6-22. (Additional reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond)
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
U.S. Figure Skating Championships: Amber Glenn, Ilia Malinin shine ahead of worlds, en route to 2026 Olympics
With the world figure skating championships in Boston at the end of March, the Americans are hoping to use their home ice advantage to find some spots on the podium. The U.S. worlds team was chosen during the U.S. national championships in Wichita over the weekend, but skaters weren't just competing for a spot on the world team for Boston — they were also starting to put together their resume for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics next February, making this an incredibly important year for the national championships. Here are the biggest takeaways from a dazzling competition. Earlier this season, Amber Glenn won every Grand Prix competition she entered, including the Grand Prix Final. With a winning streak like that, defending her national title would be easy, right? Well, this is figure skating, and nothing is easy or guaranteed. After her short program landed her in third, Glenn fought through her free program, beautifully landing her triple Axel and recovering well from a fall late in the skate. It was not her best, but it was enough to win her second consecutive national championship, and a spot on the world team headed to Boston. 'Coming into these nationals, I wasn't feeling my absolute best," Glenn told reporters after her win. "Today being able to not fully lock in but for the most part get into the zone I needed to, and I'm very proud of my mental fortitude and the progress I've made." After the 2022 season, where Liu took sixth at the Olympics and third at the world championships, she retired. Three seasons later, at the ripe old age of 19, Liu decided to return to the ice. Liu has always excelled as a jumper, and that hasn't changed. What has changed is the joy she's found on the ice this time around. Liu skated a memorable, emotional short program, and finished second overall. Three years later, she's back on the world team. 'It feels really crazy to me," she said. "I really didn't have any expectations for myself placement wise, just program wise. It felt really good throughout this entire experience.' Seventeen-year-old Isabeau Levito, who won silver at the 2024 Worlds, was the third member named to the team, pending return-to-play protocol. She missed the U.S. Championships with a foot injury. Madison Chock and Evan Bates delivered on the big stage yet again to win their sixth ice dance national title. 👏 — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) January 25, 2025 Even those who aren't the biggest fans of figure skating know about Madison Chock and Evan Bates. The ice dancing pair, who began skating together in 2011 and were married last summer, have been on every U.S. championships podium since 2013. Chock and Bates have been to three Olympics together, securing a gold medal in the team event in 2022. They won the last two world championships, too, and have shown no sign of slowing down. Their jazz-themed free skate brought down the house in Wichita. Expectations for the pair are high as they head into Boston. They will be joined by ice dancers Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, and Caroline Green and Michael Parsons. Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov haven't been skating together long. Efimova, who previously skated for Russia, was looking for a new partner in 2023 when Mitrofanov sent her a message on Instagram. The tryout worked well, and they started training in Massachusetts. Just two years later, the two won the U.S. title and will lead the pairs delegation. Even better, they get to compete a short drive from their rink in Norwood, Massachussets. 'While growing up, I watched pairs and when I was skating singles, I never thought I would do pairs," Mitrofanov said. "But when I switched, I would watch all the big names, and it was always a dream of mine to stand on the podium. It's very surreal." Ilia Malinin lands the quad axel on his way to securing his third consecutive U.S. championship. 🤯 #PrevagenUSChamps — NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) January 26, 2025 Defending world champion Ilia Malinin again treated fans to a skate packed with quadruple jumps. During Sunday's free skate, Malinin threw seven quad jumps, with a fall on one. The jumps included a quadruple Axel, a jump few will even attempt, much less land. While his jumps are fantastic and rack up points, Malinin, 20, has shown consistent growth in how he's managed the skating between his jumps. His artistry has started to catch up with his technical ability, making Malinin a terrifying opponent for his competitors in Boston. 'Looking back after that performance, I felt that it was a pretty good performance and I definitely have improved a lot since Grand Prix Final," Malinin said. "I'm definitely very happy with all the progress that I made at this competition, but now I can use the time to take everything that I've learned from my performances and really try to develop them and get them as perfect as I can before Worlds." He will be joined in Boston by Andrew Torgashev, who took second on Sunday, and two-time Olympian Jason Brown, who won bronze in the team event in the 2014 Sochi Games. Like Levito, Brown missed nationals and will need to follow return to play protocol. Brown, 30, said he had been dealing with a series of challenges heading into nationals. If he cannot compete, Camden Pulkinen will take the spot as the first alternate. Pulkinen finished third in Wichita.
