It was 4.30am when the phone rang in my room at the media village in Seoul on September 27, 1988. "Get your backside down to the press centre, there’s a massive story breaking," urged my good friend John Goodbody, of The Times. "Ben Johnson’s been done for doping!”
On Friday (September 21), David Lappartient will have been International Cycling Union (UCI) President for a year, having succeeded Britain's Brian Cookson.
As the 48th World Rowing Championships get underway in Bulgaria today, one might imagine a small wreath bobbing about on the Plovdiv Rowing Venue course in memory of the late and lamented lightweight men's coxless four (LM4-) event that had its last outing at last year's World Championships at Sarasota-Bradenton in Florida.
Russia was reduced to the status of a provisional, non-voting member of the International Biathlon Union (IBU) on December 10 of last year. Yet it remains central to the prospects and fortunes of this beleaguered international sports federation which has, in the space of the last three years, plumbed depths unmatched - as yet - by any other.
The phrase "end of an era" is much overused, particularly in sport. Yet one has little hesitation in applying it to the change at the top that is about to take place in shooting.
The Asian Games have returned to Jakarta this summer and opened yesterday in the very Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium built to hold that event back in 1962.
They would be forever known for the exploits of Dutch runner Fanny Blankers-Koen and a first Olympic gold medal for Czech Emil Zatopek.
Berlin's historic Olympic Stadium is playing its part this week in the staging of the first multi-event European Championships. While Glasgow is hosting aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon until August 12, the athletics is about to take place in the cavernous arena originally built for the 1936 Olympics.
In retrospect it seems obvious. Every four years, you bring together a group of the most popular European sports championships and hold them at the same time, enabling them to create an exponential level of interest and appeal. Boom.
Given Tokyo’s official entry to the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid race came nearly seven years ago, this week's two-year countdown to the event feels as though the Japanese capital city is coming off the bend and into the home straight.
When the 2018 World Fencing Championships, which run from July 19 to 27, were awarded to the Chinese hosts in 2015, the decision was applauded by China's Olympic champion Lei Sheng.
It began with a speech on 4 July in 2007 in Guatemala and it will end with handshakes, disappointment, joy and presentation of a small gold trophy in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium on 15 July 2018.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Wimbledon Championships, which get underway tomorrow, going open - a switch that has transformed the fortunes of generations of players, not to mention the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club which has hosted its event in south-west London since 1877.
Ivo Ferriani, who will seek a third consecutive four-year term as President of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) this week, has apparently developed something of a mantra in recent years. "First four years - evaluation and creation. Second - implementation. Third - legacy".
It was a fitting coincidence that last Thursday's (June 14) signing of the Paris 2024 protocol - the proposed financial blueprint for the Games - took place in the Hôtel de Ville's lavish Salle des Arcades under a classically painted ceiling depicting the theme of architecture.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round. It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee's recognition of the state of Israel. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili's actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials. Mohammad Khatami, the country's President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories". He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government - the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.
Virgin Racing Formula E Team - Senior Events Manager - London, UK
Virgn Racing Formula E Team is one of the most successful teams in the FIA Formula E Championship. The team is seeking an experienced and passionate individual to lead its Event Management division. He/she will report to the Chief Marketing Officer and shall be responsible for handling the team’s events programme and activities, on and off the track, on race weekends and in between.
It is 30 years since the 1988 Olympic Games took place in Seoul, where Ben Johnson famously failed a drugs test after winning gold in the men's 100 metres. Alan Hubbard recounts one of the most controversial sporting moments in history.
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