Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said he would "like to live to see Hungary hosting the Olympics".

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is poised to make a decision on whether or not to implement a new state of emergency in Tokyo on Thursday (January 7), as calls for him to take action against rising coronavirus infection rates grow.

It was pointed out by our editor Duncan Mackay that yesterday marked the anniversary that I joined insidethegames back in 2015, alongside my colleague Liam Morgan.

Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures have asked the Japanese Government to declare a state of emergency as coronavirus cases escalate in the Olympic and Paralympic host city.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has once again underlined the organisation's "determination" to stage the Olympics as planned in Tokyo this year and has claimed that the Olympic Movement has "strengthened the role of sport in society" amid the coronavirus crisis.

Tokyo 2020 Athletes' Village Mayor Saburō Kawabuchi claimed holding this year's Olympic and Paralympic Games with no spectators would be "like cooking a meal with no seasoning".

Walther Tröger, an Honorary International Olympic Committee (IOC) member whose contributions to the Olympic Movement included being Mayor of the Olympic Village at Munich 1972 and leading Germany's National Olympic Committee (NOC) for a decade, has passed away at the age of 91.

Host towns for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have expressed concern over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with communities across the country that had been expecting to welcome foreign teams for training camps ahead of the Games left in limbo.

The Japanese Government has announced that foreign travellers will not be permitted to enter the country until at least the end of January due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in the nation due to host the next Olympics and Paralympics.

"Who is the greatest Olympian?" is a topic that sports fans have debated for decades, and they will continue to do so for as long as the Games are contested.

Kento Momota, the world's top ranked badminton player, resumed his preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by competing in his first tournament for almost a year, following a serious road traffic accident.

The powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given its cautious backing to a bid to include the sport on the programme for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided a case between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). WADA was, supposedly, defending clean athletes - holding Russia accountable for the most recent effort to undermine clean sport. However, the global anti-doping regulator appears to be fighting with, rather than against, Russia. Based on statements and actions, WADA appears to be most interested in sweeping the entire Russian doping saga under the rug.

The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has stated that a potential 2030 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics bid could be complex due to the small timeframe between the Winter Games and the confirmed Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

It was something of a shock when it dawned on me that I should now be "celebrating" - if that is a word we are allowed to use in these dark days by our ramshackle leaders - my 65th year in journalism.