Olympics | Pakistan

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif said she will comply with genetic testing requirements as long as the tests are conducted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to be able to participate in competitions. Khelif won gold in the women’s welterweight division at the Paris Games in 2024 amid a gender dispute over her eligibility, after the International Boxing Association (IBA) disqualified her from the 2023 World Championships based on sex chromosome tests. World Boxing, which will oversee boxing competitions in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles after being granted provisional recognition by the IOC, last May announced mandatory sex testing for all boxers in its competitions. Khelif, who lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over World Boxing’s decision barring her from events unless she undergoes genetic sex testing, said she would only undergo the testing if it is administered by the IOC. “Of course, I would accept doing anything I’m required to do to participate in competitions,” Khel...

National champions are typically forged from years of rigorous training, determination and a foray into the sport in childhood. But Umul Banin Nasry is anything but typical. Her journey to fencing stardom began with one element; curiosity. Barely one month after taking up the sport, she won gold at the national fencing championships, although her gold medal at last month’s 35th National Games holds a sense of greater grandeur for her. Now, as the 21-year-old awaits her international debut and a chance to become Pakistan’s first fencer at the Olympics, her journey is intentional, fuelled by an unwavering commitment to training and family support in defiance of societal disapproval. It all began five years ago. Banin was intrigued by some women at her college in Quetta practicing “weird stepping movements”, only to find out it was for a sport called fencing. She tried her hand at it — quite literally — and immediately fell in love with a sport she had only seen online. Her coach signed her up for the 4th Nation...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Monday announced the dates for cricket’s return to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, stating that matches will be played on June 12, 2028. Cricket is returning to the Olympics for the first time since the Paris Games in 1900 with a proposed six-team Twenty20 format for men and women in Los Angeles. The IOC had said in October 2023 that cricket’s inclusion had the potential to activate and engage new audiences, with the sport’s worldwide fan base estimated at 2.5 billion people. A press release issued today said the sport’s highly anticipated return was revealed with the official competition schedule. Cricket “will play out starting July 12, with the 20th and 29th of the same month earmarked for the medal matches”, the press release read. “There are no cricket matches scheduled on July 14 and 21 at LA28,” it added. “Most of the matchdays will be double headers, with the games starting from 9am and 6:30pm as per local Los Angeles time. It’s the same for the medal mat...