TOKYO (AP) — The final bout of karate's Olympic debut seemed to have everything that makes combat sports so fascinating, right down to an incredible ending that should have made fans hungry for more of a martial art fighting for a place on future Olympic programs.
TOKYO (AP) — Sandra Sánchez was the perfect person to stand atop the medal podium at the Budokan triumphantly wearing the first Olympic gold medal in karate.
Just like karate itself, the 39-year-old Spanish champion waited many years for the opportunity to reach the highest level in sports — a platform to show off the mastery of her discipline to a worldwide audience.
TOKYO (AP) — The history of karate’s journey to the Olympics would make a pretty good backstory for a martial arts movie.
Generations of determined athletes have collectively spent half a century training, studying and working toward their goal, overcoming setbacks and patiently honing their martial art for the big moment.
TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics are introducing four new sports — skateboarding, surfing, karate and sport climbing. Each traveled its own unique path to the Games. Here, at a glance, from Associated Press journalists covering each sport, are the tales of how these sports reached Tokyo and what to watch for in each.
TOKYO (AP) — The Nippon Budokan sits serenely nestled in a verdant park at the heart of Tokyo. Visitors admire the elegant lines of its Buddhist temple-based design before they step into the graceful reverence of the arena, where countless martial arts champions have been crowned since it opened in 1964 with the first Olympic judo tournament.
CHELLES, France (AP) — For skateboarding, a sport where the No. 1 rule is that there are no rules, the straight jacket of the Olympic Games, with its dense thickets of tradition and regulation, may not be a natural or immediate fit.
MADRID (AP) — Paralympic champion swimmer Teresa Perales has won Spain’s annual Princess of Asturias award for sports.
The judges said on announcing the prize Wednesday that the Spanish athlete had become “an example for millions of disabled people of how to overcome difficulties and an icon of international paralympics.”