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Pickleball courts in New York's famed Central Park
MORE SPORTS
Mar 15, 2024

Amid boom overseas, when will pickleball land in Japan?

Over the past few years, pickleball has emerged as the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., but it has yet to take off in Japan.
The students at Mitaka Municipal No. 7 Junior High School have access to various cooling devices for when they play sports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / Longform
Jul 26, 2024

Japan's extreme heat is causing a rethink of school sports

At risk of sunburns and heatstroke, principals across Japan are trying to protect students' health as well as their athletic opportunities.
Flavor Flav is at the Paris Games as the hype man for the U.S. water polo team.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

Hip-hop legend Flavor Flav relishes role as hype man for U.S. water polo team

The rapper is using his fame to help support the U.S. team.
A member of the Staten Island Giants flag football team passes during a practice on April 21 in Staten Island, New York.
MORE SPORTS
May 1, 2025

Women's flag football takes off in U.S. with LA Olympics on horizon

Developed as an alternative to collision prone tackle football, girls' and women's flag football was relatively unknown six years ago.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen during a practice session for the Japanese Grand Prix. Saudi Aramco has perhaps the most visible presence among fossil fuel giants at Formula One races as one of the series' top sponsors.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Sep 30, 2023

F1 says it will reach net zero by 2030. But can it shake its polluting image?

Formula One's pledge faces myriad challenges, including its long-standing ties to some of the world's dirtiest fossil fuel companies.
Hakuoho (right) shoves out Aoiyama during the Nagoya Basho in July last year. The promising young wrestler is now part of Terunofuji's Isegahama stable after the Miyagino stable was forced to close following a bullying scandal.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Apr 3, 2024

With absorption of Miyagino stable, Isegahama looks to be building sumo super team

Whether it’s Real Madrid’s famous Galacticos or the 2024 Dodgers, few things in sport divides opinion among fans more than the creation of a super team.
Nyjah Huston of the United States in action during the men's street skateboarding preliminaries in Paris on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 30, 2024

Men's street medalists want 'more tricks' in Los Angeles Games

The sport was added to the program in Tokyo and quickly caught on, earning permanent status in the Olympic agenda beginning with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
Brazil's Bruna Alexandre serves during her singles match in the team event on Monday at the Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Table tennis
Aug 6, 2024

Brazil's Alexandre makes historic Olympic debut as she eyes Paralympic gold

Alexandre became just the third athlete to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics on Monday as a member of Brazil's table tennis team.
Shonannoumi hits the dirt at the hands of Kotozakura during a bout in Tokyo in May. Shonannoumi is among the many top wrestlers who have dropped out of this month's regional tour due to injury.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 9, 2024

Spate of sumo tour dropouts highlights need to rethink wrestlers' health

While it would be foolish not to capitalize on sumo’s surging popularity, expanded tour schedules cut into recovery time and push wrestlers to their physical limits.
Hyundai's Thierry Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe compete during an event in Finland last year.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 21, 2024

'Sport will have the last word' as World Rally title goes down to the wire in Japan

The only certainty about this year's World Rally Championship is that a Hyundai driver will take the title.
U.S. President Donald Trump made reference to Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who has competed as a woman, in a speech after signing an order on transgender participation in sports, calling her "a male boxer."
SPORTS
Feb 11, 2025

Trump order on transgender athletes clashes with international norms

There was no immediate outpouring of support from international organizations for the U.S. president's move.
Honda Racing President Koji Watanabe says the carmaker's development on the next generation of Formula One engines is proceeding as planned ahead of sweeping regulation changes in 2026.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 5, 2025

Honda looks toward its F1 future as Red Bull partnership nears end

Honda Racing President Koji Watanabe discusses the carmaker's past and future in Formula One as its Red Bull partnership draws to a close.
Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
SPORTS / Longform
Sep 8, 2025

The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight

Two Japanese athletes reveal how their pursuit of excellence in sports led to eating disorders, and how recovery is reshaping their lives.
The batsman’s place can be a lonely one — in the center of the field, surrounded by the opposition — but you can always look back to your pavilion for support.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Longform
Jul 31, 2023

Sweat, stumps and solidarity on the cricket pitch

It's a hot day and the Yokohama Alpha Quashers are about to take on the Chiba Sharks, fighting for a chance to move higher in the Japan Cricket League.
Naomi Osaka speaks during a news conference in Brisbane, Australia, on Saturday.
TENNIS
Dec 31, 2023

Naomi Osaka's love for tennis rekindled as she makes comeback

Naomi Osaka admitted Saturday she almost retired from tennis, but said her love for the sport is back after becoming a mother earlier this year.
Stefano Domenicali, CEO of Formula One, during a news conference in Madrid on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 24, 2024

Madrid to host Spanish GP from 2026; Barcelona's future uncertain

The Barcelona circuit's contract expires after the 2026 race but F1 chief Stefano Domenicali suggested the Barcelona track could remain on the calendar beyond then.
Players from Australia and New Zealand in the final of the Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, in July 2019
MORE SPORTS
Apr 9, 2024

World Netball bans transgender players from women's internationals

The organization says it will review the policy on an annual basis.
Indonesian gymnast Rifda Irfanaluthfi practices at the gymnastics training center in Jakarta on May 16.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 8, 2024

Indonesia's first Olympic gymnast encourages others to 'dream higher'

Rifda Irfanaluthfi's feat is even more impressive considering Indonesia does not yet have a national training center for gymnastics
Brazilian street skateboarder Felipe Gustavo performs a trick during a timed run with the Red Bull team at a skate park in Huntington Beach, California, on April 24.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 23, 2024

Skateboarding's reputation does a 180 as it rolls into Paris

Skateboarding brought in a much-needed younger audience on its Olympic debut in 2021, leading organizers to lock it in for the Paris Games.
Chieko Tsukahara, former head coach of the Japanese women's gymnastics team, died from stomach cancer on Sept. 1.
SPORTS
Oct 21, 2024

Former Olympic gymnast Chieko Tsukahara dies at 77

Olympic gymnasts Maiko Morio, Mari Kosuge and Koko Tsurumi are among those who trained under Tsukahara.
Simona Halep speaks to the media after a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne on Feb. 9.
TENNIS
Nov 29, 2024

Simona Halep questions process after Iga Swiatek's one-month ban in doping case

Halep was provisionally suspended in October 2022 and later banned for four years.
Bristol's Ilona Maher poses for selfies with fans after a match in Bristol, Britain, on Jan. 5.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 16, 2025

Ilona Maher urges rugby to do more to grow game ahead of Women's Rugby World Cup

Maher urged rugby to break free from its self-imposed shackles.
Zhao Xintong waves to the crowd with a Chinese flag draped over his shoulders after winning the World Championship Snooker final in Sheffield, England, on Monday.
MORE SPORTS
May 8, 2025

Snooker chief feels Zhao Xintong's historic world title can help Olympic bid

Snooker's hope to be included in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is realistic and will be enhanced by China's growing power in the sport, according to one of the men behind the bid.
Afghan youth cricketers take part in a training session at Mohammad Mirza Katawazai Cricket Centre in Kabul on Nov. 25.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Dec 15, 2023

'Crazy for cricket': Young Afghans inspired by national team's success

From pickup games in dusty parks or narrow alleys to high-intensity training at well-kitted academies, young Afghans have cricket fever.
Wrestlers with the Shikoroyama stable after a training session in Tokyo late last month.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 3, 2024

Opportunities abound for sumo's governing body as centenary nears

Much progress has been made in Japan’s national sport in recent years, but there's still work to be done to better cater to foreign fans.
England's Jess Carter in action with Spain's Salma Paralluelo during the Women's World Cup final in Sydney in August 2023
SPORTS
Feb 8, 2024

Women's sports draw record viewership in U.K. in 2023, research shows

The FIFA Women's World Cup final, which England lost 1-0 to Spain, was 2023's most-watched women's sports event on TV with 38.4 million viewing hours.
Former yokozuna Hakuho apologizes for the bullying caused by his protege Hokuseiho (right), outside the Miyagino stable in Tokyo on Friday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 28, 2024

How a rethink of supervision at stables could curtail bullying in sumo

Incidents of bullying and harassment of younger wrestlers by their seniors continue to erupt with regularity, causing major issues for the world of sumo.
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner accepted an three-month doping ban on Saturday after reaching a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency.
TENNIS
Feb 16, 2025

World No. 1 Sinner accepts three-month doping ban after settlement with WADA

Sinner's ban began Feb. 9 and will end on May 4, and he can return to training on April 13. The French Open is scheduled to begin on May 25.
Onosato (left) battles Gonoyama on Day 6 of the Summer Basho. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion to yokozuna, there could soon be two titans at the top of the sport fighting for titles.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
May 21, 2025

Onosato’s march to yokozuna could usher in golden age for sumo

It's been 5½ years since two yokozuna battled head-to-head for an Emperor's Cup. With Onosato on the cusp of promotion, that streak could soon be over.
Onosato celebrates winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
May 28, 2025

Historic rise to yokozuna just the beginning for Onosato

There is a good argument to be made that Onosato is already the most widely decorated wrestler in sumo history.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight