Dipa Karmakar on Sunday created history by becoming the first ever Indian gymnast to qualify for the Olympic Games. Karmakar produced a strong show, finishing ninth in the first of the four subdivisions of the women's artistic category, at the Final Qualifier and Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro. She garnered a total score of 52.698 points. Her final rankings will be known only after completion of the event with competition in three other subdivisions going on currently. Her first vault,...

Before life threw more adversity at him than one person ought to bear, Kieran Behan told his mother that he would be an Olympic gymnast someday. He was just a boy, maybe 6 years old, when he fell in love with gymnastics, drawn to the thrill of it while watching the Summer Games, enamored by the possibility that he too could defy gravity and flip through the air as if he could fly. But that was before a series of injuries, two so severe that doctors told him he would never walk again: a botched...

Even before the sun has risen, hundreds of Kenyan runners pound the roads around Iten -- perhaps not yet fully awake, and still dreaming of future glories. The men and women hardly seem to notice the thin, crisp air -- the town is 2,400 metres above sea level -- as they seemingly glide up and down the steep hills. Most, but not all of the runners here are from the same ethnic group, the Kalenjin.SOUNDBITE 1 Renato Canova (man), Athletics coach (English, 21 sec):"They can be like similar to Formula...

Before becoming an MMA fighter and the Strikeforce bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey made her name by winning a bronze medal in judo at the Beijing Olympics. In a recent interview with Elie Seckbach, she talked about how great it was for all Olympians, no matter the stature, to get together and have fun. Well, almost all Olympians. There was one Olympian who didn't want to mingle: Michael Phelps. Rousey said while at a party for all American Olympians, the athletes happily mingled together....

The Saudi sports minister and head of the Saudi National Olympic Committee confirmed on April 4, 2012, that Saudi Arabia will not support women in practicing sports. Prince Nawwaf al-Faisal said: “Female sports activity has not existed [in the kingdom] and there is no move thereto in this regard.” “At present, we are not embracing any female Saudi participation in the Olympics or other international championships,” Prince Nawwaf continued. “If the International Olympic Committee was looking for...