sochiolympics Page 16 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

SNL Lampoons Russian Anti-Gay Laws With Billie Jean King Bit
Earlier in the week, the United States announced its delegation to Russia for the Sochi Olympics and it was pretty obviously a giant middle finger pointed at Moscow. Two openly-gay and one soon-to-be-openly-gay delegates were named to the delegation, including tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King....

Who Would Brian Boitano Do?
Figure skater Brian Boitano's announcement that he's gay spurred a confused discussion in the office this morning, but no, as it turns out, he only first came out today....

America's Olympic Delegation Is A Calculated Insult To Russia
For the last five Olympics, the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremonies has included either the President, Vice-President, or First Lady. Not this time, Russia. You get the President's assistant, and a few openly gay former athletes....

Russian Hockey Team Makes Gold-Medal Worthy Olympics Music Video
Oh my god, oh my god, this video is really too much. Russians! They're so cute and kitschy!...

The Olympic Torch Keeps Going Out
The Olympic torch relay began in Moscow two days ago, and the flame has already been extinguished four times. It's a slight embarrassment for the host nation, but a fairly large one for the factory that made the torches, and also happens to make ballistic missiles....

Olympic Flame Snuffed Out In Russia
There is no better image for these Sochi Olympics than light going dark once inside the Russian border. ...

Oh Look, Russia Is Brutalizing Its Olympic Migrant Workers
While we're all still worked up about Qatar's blatant mistreatment of the many thousands of migrant workers who will soon begin building infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup, here's a reminder that Qatar doesn't have the market cornered on turning international sporting events into humanitarian cri...

Caps Tell NPR Not To Ask Ovechkin About Anti-Gay Laws; NPR Asks Anyway
Through this offseason of shoving a mic in the face of every potential Russian Olympic athlete to get a quote on Russia's anti-gay legislation, Alexander Ovechkin has proved elusive. No more. NPR tracked down Ovechkin, recently returned from carrying the Olympic torch, and posed the burning question...


U.S. Olympic Hockey Jerseys Revealed
America's brave ice warriors will be wearing these as they curbstomb their way through Sochi. Shoulder stars? Ech. But you'll barely notice them when USA players' arms are raised in triumph after embarrassing Canada....

Ilya Kovalchuk On Russia's Anti-Gay Laws: "I Agree, Of Course"
Here's the former NHLer to TSN, as relayed by SI:...

Russia Has Officially Banned Protests At The Sochi Olympics
Russia's official government newspaper today published a new presidential decree signed by Vladimir Putin that bans all protests or demonstrations in Sochi from one month before the start of the Olympics until one month after. Sorry, gays and sympathizers!...

Pavel Datsyuk Defers To Religion On Russian Anti-Gay Laws
When Henrik Zetterberg and Victor Hedman publicly spoke out against Russia's anti-gay laws, we openly wondered what would happen when reporters approached the NHL's Russian players. Well, here's one....


Lolo Jones Was Just Named To The U.S. Bobsled Team, Because Why Not?
Yes, Lolo Jones is on the U.S. bobsled team. Huh?...

The IOC Was This Close To Owning Santa Claus
Saturday, the Russian Olympic Committee announced the results of voting for the 2014 Olympic mascots. (They picked a snowboarding snow leopard, and a fluffy bunny and cheerful bear. They're boring.) But one of the 10 nominees didn't even make it to voting. Ded Moroz ("Father Frost"), the Russian ver...

Russian Olympic Mascots Aren't Horrifying, Are Confusing
The 11 candidates to be the mascot for the 2014 Sochi games aren't as soul-scarring as the London duo, but...wait, is that a dolphin on skis? Is that...Santa Claus? [via Fourth-Place Medal]...