• The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has withdrawn meldonium abuse charges from Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, the swimmer’s lawyer, Artyom Patsev, told TASS.

    Efimova was suspected of using meldonium, a formula, which the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) included in its list of prohibited substances as of January 1, 2016.

    Efimova, who is Russia’s 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in swimming, the four-time world champion and many times winner of European tournaments, announced in March that her doping sample taken in February had shown the presence of banned substance meldonium. The swimmer was suspended immediately from all international tournaments.

    “We received an official notification from FINA just an hour ago that all the charges [against Efimova] had been dropped. She is free to compete. No punishment has followed,” Patsev said.

    Read TASS

    Read also Reuters

    Patsev said that he was “expecting FINA to take this decision”, especially after the 24-year-old breaststroke specialist had a temporary suspension lifted in May.

    She was added to Russia’s roster for the games in June.

    “We are all really happy for Yulia. She will join up with the team in Rio de Janeiro on 1-2 August,” Patsev concluded.

  • How do you market an Olympian without mentioning the Olympics?

    That’s the challenge facing companies such as Under Armour, Gatorade and General Mills.

    Even though these companies have endorsement deals with these athletes all year round, they can’t call them Olympians in commercials or social media posts during the actual games. That’s because the brands aren’t official sponsors of the Olympics.

    It definitely helps to have athletes who are easily recognizable.

    Gatorade has Usain Bolt and Serena Williams, and has already featured both of them in commercials.

    Under Armour has another well-known Olympian — swimmer and 18-time gold medalist Michael Phelps.

    Read CNN

    https://youtu.be/Xh9jAD1ofm4

  • A British gold surprise by Danielle Huskisson and Caleb Hughes

    Hoorn (LEN) – The British open water swimming team caused another surprise by clinching medals at the European Open Water Championships in Hoorn (NED). In the 5 km time-trial Danielle Huskisson captured gold and three hours later Caleb Hughes earned a bronze medal. Russian Kirill Abrosimov repeated his triumph from the 2012 edition in Piombino (ITA) when he got gold in the 5 and 10 km events.

    (more…)

  • Everything you need to know about Olympic Water Polo.

    The first Olympic team sport, Water Polo has been in the Games since Paris 1900, when it was a men-only competition – women joined at Sydney 2000. Physical, fast-paced and with lots of goals, it’s a thrilling spectacle.

    Watch more Water Polo here: http://bit.ly/29FInRa

  • Sarah Sjöström – The Perfect Race – Butterfly | (English subtitle)

    https://youtu.be/lpXox7IvByY

  • When the U.S. Rowing Team takes to the water at the Rio Olympics next month, their uniforms will be different from what they planned. They’ll wear anti-microbial suits to protect themselves from pollution. The lagoon where they’ll row is just one of the many waterways Brazil promised to clean up before the games, but it’s a promise the country has failed to keep. Ben Tracy reports from Rio.

  • The Court of Arbitration for Sports ruled the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) extended ban constituted a double jeopardy following an 18-month suspension after testing positive for an anabolic steroid.

    South Korean swimming star Park Tae-hwan, who was barred from the Olympic Games for doping, will compete for the national team in Rio de Janeiro after the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) ruled in his favour.

    The multiple Olympic medallist had sought “an urgent ruling” from the Lausanne-based body against his doping ban by July 8 – the deadline for South Korea to select their Rio swimming team.

    “We will include Park Tae-hwan in the list of national athletes who will take part in the Rio Olympics”, Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) Secretary General Cho Young-ho was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

    Park, 26, was slapped with an 18-month suspension after testing positive for an anabolic steroid in out-of-competition controls before the 2014 Asian Games.

    Read South China Morning Post