Six-time Olympic foil fencing champion Valentina Vezzali has announced her retirement from the sport after her Italian team lost to Russia 45-39 in a World Championship final doubling as the Rio 2016 test event.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman has formally received the Olympic flame on behalf of his city at a colourful Handover Ceremony in Athens.

The Opening Ceremony of this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, due to take place in exactly 100 days time, will convey a positive image of Brazil and unite the country at a time of division and conflict, the producer responsible for organising the event has predicted.

As we approach the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death on May 3, it seems fitting to observe that the great writer – whose play The Tempest provided part of the inspiration for the London 2012 Opening Ceremony - bequeathed us the perfect summary of the Tokyo 2020 logo saga: Much Ado About Nothing.

Syrian swimmer Ibrahim Al Hussein carried the Olympic Flame on a glorious sunlit evening, providing a brief respite from the reality of a life far from their homelands for many of the refugees who now live here.

The magnificent Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens is where representatives of Rio de Janeiro will tomorrow formally take charge of the Olympic flame for 2016 after Greek rower Katerina Nikolaidou has lit a special golden cauldron to end a journey of 2,235 kilometres around Greece.

A decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to relax rules on athletes who have tested positive for meldonium sends out a “bad signal” ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Ethics Commission of the Austrian Anti-Doping Agency (AADA) has claimed.

Norwegian Egil Kristiansen has resigned from his role as the coach of the country's women's cross-country skiing team with immediate effect, it has been announced.

"Swift action" is required to complete the Trump Hotel due to house seven International Federations in Rio de Janeiro during this year's Olympic Games.

A maximum of four men’s and four women’s singles places for the badminton tournaments at Rio 2016 can be granted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Tripartite Commission, including one to the host nation, the sport’s governing body has confirmed to its members.

In a simple but emotional moment, the Olympic flame will be carried this Tuesday (April 26) by Syrian swimmer Ibrahim Al Hussein at the Eleonas Refugee Camp in Athens. Ibrahim had part of his leg amputated, but still swims and plays wheelchair basketball.

International Cycling Union (UCI) President Brian Cookson is targeting an expansion to the track programme at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, as well as the growth of BMX freestyle competitions.

Olympic silver medallists Spain are among a group of countries still in danger of missing this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) announced their "full support" of FIBA Europe's decision to ban 14 teams.

The Olympic flame, currently touring around Greece, is set to burn in Rio de Janeiro later this year at a city centre location rather than at the Maracanã Stadium.

A decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to pay transportation or insurance costs for National Hockey League (NHL) players to participate at Pyeongchang 2018 has left a "difficult financial situation", the head of the sport's world governing body has admitted.