Rio

Carnival in Rio: Our favorite places to go

And nobody celebrates like Rio de Janeiro, where thousands of people come together to party in the streets, bars and restaurants and balls of Carnival.

Carnival 2017 starts on Friday, February 24 and ends on February 28, also known as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday. It's the hurrah before the Christian faithful start observing Lent, a period of contemplation and reflection before the coming of Easter.

Medical records hacked: 53 British athletes from Rio could be named

Three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome and five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins were among those whose stolen files werepublished by Fancy Bears.

Ukad chief executive Nicole Sapstead said it is trying to contact athletes.

The files were stolen from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

They relate to therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs), which allow banned substances to be used for medical reasons.

Rio Olympics 2016: Australian athletes fined for trying to get better seats at basketball

They were attempting to get better seats at the Australia v Serbia men's basketball semi-final at the Rio Olympics without proper accreditation.

The athletes were questioned by police on Friday and released on Saturday.

Australia's chef de mission Kitty Chiller said her country's Olympians were "definitely not at fault".

Cyclists Ashlee Ankudinoff and Melissa Hoskins, rugby sevens player Ed Jenkins, archers Alec Potts and Ryan Tyack, rowers Olympia Aldersey, Fiona Albert and Lucy Stephan and hockey player Simon Orchard were the nine involved.

Pacific lifters battle uneven field - OWF

Paul Coffa said despite the natural talent of the Pacific lifters, they would will be up against some athletes who have been banned for drug cheating in the past, so they could only achieve so much.

"The Oceania region hasn't had anyone positive for years and years, whereas the rest of the world in our sport, produces positive (tests) year after year," he said.

Posts delivered as Rio gets ready for rugby

The grass has been laid, the pitch marked out, the seating and floodlights installed in the temporary stadium and the posts were the final major structure to be put in place by venue organisers. The Deodoro Stadium will also host the equestrian, combined running and shooting sections of the modern pentathlon during the 2016 Games. 

Rio set to have three styles of victory ceremonies

Each ceremony will also have its own music (check them out on the Rio website>>>), as Christy Nicolay, executive producer of sport presentations, explained. "For the first time ever we have three different styles of victory ceremonies," said the American.

Hayne misses out on Fiji Olympic Sevens berth

RNZI reports Hayne met with coach Ben Ryan on Friday and was told his time with the squad had ended.

Ryan said he could see that he was not going to have enough time remaining to make the final cut.

Forbes thankful he made the right call

RNZI reports Forbes, 33, was yesterday named in Sir Gordon Tietjens' 12-man squad heading to Rio next month.

He gave up the captaincy last year in order to focus on making it to Rio and said, looking back, it was the right decision.

"This is definitely one of the proudest moments, you know being in an Olympic team. I guess I made some massive decisions earlier on to give myself the best chance to be here so definitely stoked that it all worked out."

Hard work ahead for All Black Sevens

The New Zealanders finished third in the World Series following the completion of the final round in London this morning.

RNZI reports the All Black Sevens were thumped by the United States in the Cup quarter-finals, but went on to win the Plate.

Fiji won their second straight series from South Africa and New Zealand.

Paris success a "waste" if Samoa 7s don't reach Rio

The Manu stunned Fiji yesterday to seal their first Cup win on the World Series since 2012.

Samoa have yet to qualify for the Olympic sevens competition - with both their men's and women's teams taking part in the final repechage events in Monaco and Dublin next month.

Head coach Damian McGrath said getting to Rio remained their number one focus.