A Commission is to be set up by the Rio de Janeiro City Council to investigate whether construction projects associated with the Olympic and Paralympic Games were tarnished by corruption, it has been announced.   

Hulking Swedish actor Dolph Lundgren is best known to movie fans for his role in the film Rocky IV in 1985. For the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta he was selected by the United States Olympic Committee as the team leader of the American modern pentathlon team. Though he attended the Games and marched with the US delegation in the Opening Ceremony, his role was largely honorary. It was bestowed on Lundgren as a result of the time he spent training with the team in preparation for his role in the film Pentathlon, where he starred as an East German Olympic gold medalist on the run from an abusive coach played by David Soul. As a result of the time he spent with the team, Lundgren became a major supporter of the campaign to keep modern pentathlon on the Olympic programme. 

Presidents of the 41 Pan American National Olympic Committees were handed Rio 2016 Torches here this evening in a special ceremony celebrating the "Unity of the Americas" attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Brazil's under-fire President Dilma Rousseff rekindled the Olympic flame for the first time on Brazilian soil here this morning to set into motion a Torch Relay due to last for the next 94 days until the Opening Ceremony of Rio 2016 on August 5.

The 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis included the only appearance on the programme of the plunge for distance event, where competitors began with a standing dive and then had to remain motionless underwater for one minute or until their heads broke the surface of the water, whichever came first. William Dickey of the United States won the gold medal with a distance of 62 feet 6 inches, There were only five participants in the event, however, all Americans from the New York Athletic Club. Dickey's team-mates Edgar Adams and Leo Goodwin took the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Dickey's Olympic victory was far short of the world record at the time, which for a 60-second limit competition had been set at 79 feet 3 inches by W. Taylor of Bootle, England, in September 1902.

Rio 2016's Olympic Flame is crossing the Atlantic overnight ahead of its arrival here in the Brazilian capital tomorrow morning, where volleyball superstar Fabiana Claudino will become the first official torchbearer.

Great Britain’s Elissa Downie today completed a clean sweep of the women’s apparatus gold medals at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Challenge Cup at the Gradski vrt Hall in Osijek.

British rising star Elissa Downie claimed double gold today in the vault and uneven bars as apparatus finals began at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Challenge Cup at the Gradski vrt Hall in Osijek.

Italy's five-time World Championship rowing medallist Niccolò Mornati has been suspended and faces missing the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after testing positive for a banned drug normally used for treating breast cancer, it has been announced. 

Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President Alexander Zhukov has urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to grant special permission for Crimean-born javelin thrower Vera Rebrik to switch nationality from Ukraine to Russia in time for Rio 2016, it has been reported.

Italian basketball player Andrea Bargnani has featured in the latest promotional video for Rome's bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The uniform which will be worn by American rowers at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been unveiled by custom apparel manufacturers Boathouse Sports.

"Zika-proof" uniforms will be worn by the South Korean team at August's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in an attempt to protect athletes from the mosquito-borne virus.

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon joined International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach to greet the Rio 2016 Olympic flame at the UN Headquarters in Geneva.