In the last few months, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been courting potential 2026 Winter Games host cities like never before, but there was a time when no less a figure than the IOC President would cheerfully have abolished the event altogether.
For more than a decade, the UK has hosted some exceptional sporting events.
All sporting tournaments - and while we're at it, perhaps the whole universe, but that might take a little more discussion time - start with some kind of friction.
Let's hope that January 14 to 20, 2019 is not a busy week for the Brexit negotiations.
As a long-time boxing fan I am now seriously concerned about the sport's future in the Olympic Games. If, indeed, it has one.
Tomorrow will be my last day at insidethegames, which, after five years and having never left anything more than a summer job washing up in a café before, feels very strange.
I am afraid athletics, I can diagnose you with a midlife crisis.
Throughout his tenure as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, Thomas Bach has largely got what he has wanted.
Women’s Hockey World Cup organisers have been praised for a tournament in which London’s hockey centre became "’a hot cauldron every day, providing an unforgettable atmosphere for players to shine".
On the face of it, you wouldn’t think there was much in common between Britain’s new European 100 metres champion Dina Asher-Smith and Muhammad Ali - but both float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
History repeats: when we address this issue in classrooms or ordinary life, we are often struck by humanity's obstinacy, our tragic inability to adapt.
Boxing has rumbled in the jungle, thrilled us in Manila and only last week knocked 'em cold in Kissimmee.
Russian doping is a subject now considered increasingly boring by many people.
I remember laughing when two years ago I came up to Glasgow for the official launch of the European Sport Championships brand, when the event was simply branded the "European Championships".
I've been off the grid over the last two weeks, so to speak, summoning the last vestiges of youth to spend two weeks backpacking around Europe.
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.
UEFA - International Relations Assistant - Nyon, Switzerland
The International Relations Assistant supports the daily operations of the UEFA Assist project and team. The role requires excellent communication and organisational skills, an aptitude for creating engaging digital content as well as the ability to oversee the financial management of projects.
Seventy years have passed since the London 1948 Olympics - an event which became known as "The Austerity Games". Philip Barker looks back on when the world gathered after the horrors of war.
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