SEBASTIAN COE

Elton John has formally received one of the highest awards that can be bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II.

Sebastian Coe wants to ensure what happened this month to American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson won’t knock another athlete out of the Olympics in the future.

Athlete activism is making a comeback at these Olympic Games. When play starts at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday, acts of free expression of the kind athletes were long banned from making at the Olympics will take center stage. The British women’s soccer team has pledged to take a knee before kickoff against Chile in their Olympic tournament opener in Sapporo, to show support for racial justice.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said he's "not sure that there is a huge risk attached" to the Tokyo Olympics going ahead.

Sebastian Coe tried to reassure athletes and skeptical residents of Japan that the postponed Olympics will be safe when they open in just under 11 weeks.

The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee says it would be “quite tough” for IOC President Thomas Bach to make a planned visit this month to Japan with a state of emergency order being extended by the government to Tokyo and other areas until May 31.

Athletes who make political or social justice protests at the Tokyo Olympics have been promised legal support by a global union and an activist group in Germany.

The Olympic rings are seen at the empty Odaiba waterfront in Tokyo, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The Tokyo Games, postponed in the midst of a pandemic, are scheduled to open on July 23. The rollout at Olympic headquarters in Switzerland is planned for Feb. 4, with Tokyo likely to present on Feb. 5. The World Health Organization said earlier this week that Olympic athletes should not be a priority ahead of health care workers, the elderly and the vulnerable. The president of the Japan Medical Association sounded a warning last week when asked about the Olympics and possible patients from abroad.

He's an International Olympic Committee member, a two-time Olympic champion, and the head of the governing body of track and field, known as World Athletics. “Athletes are a part of the world and they want to reflect the world they live in,” Coe said. Coe is in the Japanese capital on a courtesy visit to Tokyo Olympic organizers. Coe pitched Tokyo as a possible venue for a future track world championships. “We don’t know what will happen in the next few months,” Coe said, speaking about the Olympics.

OSLO Svein Arne Hansen, the president of European Athletics and longtime organizer of the Bislett Games in Norway, has died. The Norwegian Athletics Association confirmed Hansen's death on Saturday, saying there had been several complications with his health after he suffered a stroke on March 15. He was elected president of the sport's European governing body in 2015 and got re-elected last year. At European Athletics, he was an ally of World Athletics president Sebastian Coe and a critic of the doping scandals which have tarnished the sport. He helped to introduce the I Run Clean anti-doping education program to European Athletics, and made personal contact with athletics officials to ensure that leaders, coaches and practitioners followed the upgraded guidelines.

Former president of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) Lamine Diack, center, arrives at the Paris courthouse, Monday, June 8, 2020. Lamine Diack jetted the world and rubbed shoulders with VIPs. The most conspicuous absentee was his son, Papa Massata Diack, who lives in Senegal and didn't travel to Paris for the trial. He conducted himself like a thug," Lamine Diack said in court. Prosecutors asked the court for a 4-year prison term and a fine of 500,000 euros ($562,000 ) for Lamine Diack.

GENEVA Amid a global wave of demonstrations against racism, the IOC said Wednesday it would open talks that could let athletes make stronger protests at the Olympic Games. In other business Wednesday: A princess, a former head of state, the son of a former prime minister and two 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medalists were recommended for IOC membership. A third woman proposed for membership, Maria Colon of Cuba, took javelin gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A decision on whether to confirm four additional sports proposed for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be taken in December as scheduled, despite the Tokyo Olympics being postponed to 2021. Any weightlifting official implicated in financial corruption and doping cover-ups at the sports governing body will be denied accreditation for the Tokyo Olympics.

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2019, file photo, Katerina Stefanidi, of Greece, competes in the women's pole vault final at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar. Three of the leading womens pole vaulters will take their turn to compete in the second edition of the Ultimate Garden Clash. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)The strategy of reigning Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi throughout a fast-paced, race-against-the-clock pole vault competition: keep cool. Its a great accomplishment for me and really helped push me on to another level.The mens pole vault competition provided a game plan for the women: keep a steady pace. The Ultimate Garden Clash event has been popular on World Athletics social media channels and could serve as a model for future track competitions.

The Olympic Rings pictured in front of the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne on March 22, 2020. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan's Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday. "We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks' time," the paper quoted Coates as saying. World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe has said the world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon could be moved back to 2022 if necessary. IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday that "all options" were on the table for rescheduling, including holding the Games before the Japanese summer.