Sports

The Tokyo Olympics have been officially postponed until 2021.

The International Olympic Committee along with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and local organizers have decided that the Tokyo Games cannot go ahead as scheduled this year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Greek gymnast Lefteris Petrounias, Olympic gold medalist and world champion, carries the Olympic torch during the flame handover ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on Thursday. The ceremony took place without spectators as a precaution amid the continuing spread of the coronavirus.

A former NCAA champion in javelin was given a four-year doping ban in a ruling published Tuesday.

Ioannis Kyriazis of Greece, who also placed sixth at the 2017 world championships, tested positive for the steroid-like muscle builder Ligandrol, track and field's Athletics Integrity Unit said.

UEFA has announced its decision to postpone the 2021 European Championship. The news was first posted on Twitter by the Norwegian Football Federation.

The European Championship has been postponed by one year to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The tournament will be held from June 11 to July 11 next year.

The Euroleague announced on Thursday the suspension of all its tournaments, i.e. its main competition, the Eurocup and the Next Generation Euroleague, with immediate effect.

The decision, that applies indefinitely, followed the diagnosis of a Real Madrid player with coronavirus, and the suspension of the NBA in the US.

The flame for the Tokyo Olympics was lit Thursday at the birthplace of the ancient games in a pared-down ceremony because of the coronavirus.

Standing in front of the ruined Temple of Hera in Ancient Olympia, a Greek actress playing the part of a pagan priestess used a concave mirror to focus the sun's rays on a silver torch, causing fire to spurt forth.

Mayor of the Ukrainian capital Vitali Klitschko announced that schools and universities in the city will be closed from tomorrow until the end of March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Reuters reported.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators after organizers on Monday introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus.

Tennis tournament in the California "desert" was scheduled to start on Thursday, but due to the prevalence of coronavirus, it will not take place.

When my brother Jamie and I were growing up, we lived very close to the local tennis courts in Dunblane (Scotland). Given my mum played tennis to a reasonable standard and was also a coach, it was inevitable we would end up playing.