HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — In Zimbabwe, where girls as young as 10 are forced to marry due to poverty or traditional and religious practices, a teenage taekwondo enthusiast is using the sport to give...

LÜNEN, Germany (AP) — Iran's only female Olympic medalist said Friday she wants to compete for Germany after defecting from her native country.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's only female Olympic medalist said she defected from the Islamic Republic in a blistering online letter that describes herself as “one of the millions of...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — More South Korean female skaters are accusing their coaches of sexually abusing them, a group representing the athletes disclosed Monday following claims by two-time Olympic champion Shim Suk-hee that her former coach had repeatedly raped her.

The announcement came amid a growing #MeToo movement in South Korea's elite sports scene, which has been notorious for a brutal training culture and highly hierarchical relationships between coaches and athletes.

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — There's the punk rocker, the animal lover and the shy performer. A future educator, a taekwondo black belt and an outdoorsman also are part of the group.

All six young people from Eugene are among 21 youth plaintiffs suing the federal government in an unprecedented, constitutional climate change lawsuit that seeks to overhaul the nation's energy system.

The landmark environmental case is scheduled to go to trial at the U.S. Courthouse in Eugene on Oct. 29.

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Center for SafeSport has permanently banned two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Steven Lopez for sexual misconduct involving a minor.

The center has been investigating Lopez for about four months and made his ban permanent Thursday night. He can appeal.

He was suspended in May, a few days after four women filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing USA Taekwondo and the U.S. Olympic Committee of sex trafficking.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — South Korean taekwondo athletes have performed for Pope Francis, after a planned show of Korean unity at the Vatican fell apart when the North pulled out at the last minute.

Pope Francis didn't seem to notice or mind, thanking the athletes Wednesday for their exhibition "which was a show of the will for peace, the two Koreas together."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Steven Lopez complained to the U.S. Olympic Committee that he was subject to an "institutionalized witch hunt" designed to undermine his success — a piece of Congressional testimony offered by USA Taekwondo to undercut the notion that the organization was unwilling to discipline its top athletes for sex-abuse and other cases.

DENVER (AP) — Two lawsuits filed recently against the U.S. Olympic Committee illustrate the peril the federation finds itself in over its handling of decades' worth of sex-abuse cases, while shining a light on the murky relationship the USOC has with the sports organizations it oversees.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — From aging crooners to bubbly K-Pop starlets, some of South Korea's biggest pop stars flew to North Korea on Saturday for rare performances that highlight the sudden thaw in inter-Korean ties after years of tensions over the North's nuclear ambitions.

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) — Pita Taufatofua has shown once again he's willing to give the shirt off his back for Tonga in Olympic conditions, whether it be sun, snow or shine.

Less than two years after shooting to international fame when he walked shirtless and oiled-up into the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Taufatofua was bare chested again when he carried the Tongan flag into the opener of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang on Friday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three aspiring Olympic female taekwondo athletes who were sexually abused by their coach for years have been awarded $60 million in a lawsuit against the imprisoned martial arts master.

The judgment against Marc Gitelman was awarded last week by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge after the former coach failed to respond adequately to the lawsuit and was found in default.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Tears and hugs after North and South Korean women won the 1991 team table tennis world championships. A standing ovation when athletes from the two Koreas marched together to open the 2000 Sydney Olympics. A selfie taken by a South Korean gymnast with her North Korean opponent that went viral at last year's Rio de Janeiro Games.

Chinese President Xi Jinping administered the oath to Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Carrie Lam as China marked 20 years since the city became a semi-autonomous region after its handover from Britain in 1997. Pro-democracy demonstrators protested in Hong Kong in the days leading up to the anniversary.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — IOC President Thomas Bach said Friday that he is open to the possibility of a unified Korean team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in February.

Speaking in Muju, 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Seoul, on the final day of the 2017 World Taekwondo Championships, Bach told a media conference that he would discuss the issue with South Korea President Moon Jae-in.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea President Moon Jae-in said Saturday he hopes to see North Korean athletes at next year's Winter Olympics in South Korea to ease tensions over the North's nuclear program.

Moon made the comments during the opening ceremony of the world taekwondo championships in the South Korean town of Muju, where a North Korean delegation led by International Olympic Committee member Chang Ung was also present.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A North Korean taekwondo demonstration team arrived in South Korea on Friday for its first performances in the rival country in 10 years.

Two brothers under investigation for sexual misconduct were allowed to take part in the Rio Olympics last summer, according to a report.

USA Today reported that USA Taekwondo began investigating claims against Steven and Jean Lopez more than two years ago after multiple women said the brothers sexually assaulted them.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan Olympic committee elections were called off on Friday on the morning they were supposed to take place after one of the sports federations barred from voting obtained a court order.

Two-time Olympic silver medalist Paul Tergat was set to be elected unopposed as the new head of the troubled National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) after incumbent Kip Keino, who has been in charge for nearly 20 years, failed to secure a nomination.

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's first Olympic champion, taekwondo gold medal winner Ahmad Abughaush, has returned home to a royal welcome.

The 20-year-old was greeted by three princes, his family and a cheering crowd late on Tuesday at the kingdom's main airport, after his return from the Rio games.

Abughaush told reporters that he hopes to "uphold this title which I achieved this year, and to win in the upcoming Olympics 2020."

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Taekwondo may be best known for its flashy and acrobatic kicks, but the electronic scoring system used at the Olympics apparently doesn't care whether or not fighters use the correct technique. That's resulting in a lot of bizarre kicks that no true practitioner of the Korean martial art would recognize, in a departure that some say cheapens the sport.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — After winning Jordan's first Olympic medal ever — a gold, no less — Ahmad Abughaush has an unexpected plan for it: The taekwondo champion intends to give it to his king.

Many members of King Abdullah's family stayed up late Thursday night to watch Abughaush's historic victory in the men's 68-kilogram division at the Rio Olympics, and he has since spoken to at least 10 of them as they offered him congratulations.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The taekwondo grudge match that was supposed to happen at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics will not come off.

British-born Aaron Cook, who now fights for Moldova, had been hoping for a chance to prove to British officials that they were wrong for refusing to pick him for the London Olympics.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It's a bitter grudge that has lasted for years: Aaron Cook vs. Britain.

Born and raised in the U.K., Cook is now a citizen of Moldova and will be fighting for that country in the men's 80-kilogram competition in what his British opponent Lutalo Muhammad describes as "probably the biggest rivalry in taekwondo."