A late spin failed to stop Lewis Hamilton from setting the fastest time in final practice ahead of Sunday’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix.

The FIA is set to impose new safety measures following what president Jean Todt described as the "tragedy" of Jules Bianchi’s horrific accident in Japan on Sunday, which has left the Frenchman fighting for his life.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has his expressed confidence over the financial implications of hosting the 2022 Winter Games after formally declaring the three candidate cities in Lausanne on Monday.

The International Olympic Committee has been urged by a coalition of human and gay rights groups not to award future Games to nations which have discriminatory laws.

Dominique Gisin and Tina Maze made Winter Olympics history in the women’s downhill as they shared the gold medal in Sochi.

A passenger on board an Istanbul-bound flight claimed there was a bomb on board and tried to hijack the plane to Sochi, Russia, where the Winter Olympics are kicking off, an official says.

Vladimir Putin, rugged outdoorsman and tough- guy Russian president, promoted a cuddly image as his Olympics drew near.

It’s unlikely there is an Olympian alive who can’t recall where they were when news filtered through that they had been selected to represent their country, but few can tell as unique a tale as Florence Bell.

Olympic Council of Ireland President Pat Hickey is not worried by the security concerns surrounding next month’s Winter Games in Sochi.

Lindsey Vonn will miss the Sochi Olympics because of a right knee injury, leaving the Winter Games without one of its biggest stars.

At least 10 people have been killed in a bus explosion in Volgograd, Russia’s emergency situations ministry has said.

You know times are tough when bad news is given a Hollywood makeover and presented as good news simply because it wasn’t quite as horrific as first feared.

The eight tons of gold, silver and copper unearthed from mines in Mongolia and Utah and now under guard at the Tower of London is the largest ever haul used to make Olympic medals.

The Vancouver Winter Olympics, marred by early tragedy but destined ultimately to be remembered as a Games embraced by its hosts like few before them, drew to a close amid an unprecedented, country-wide party last night.

Didier Defago ended 22 years of Swiss downhill heartache by scoring a surprise victory in the delayed blue riband event of the Winter Games at Whistler today.

OLYMPIC Council of Ireland (OCI) chief executive Stephen Martin is confident that the Irish competitors will not be affected by the bobsleigh controversy which has dominated Irish preparations for the Winter Games in Vancouver.

SHELLEY RUDMAN surged to an Olympic silver medal in her first full season last night with a sensational second run in the women’s skeleton at Cesana Pariol.

DICK POUND, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), is determined to close the loop hole that allowed 12 cross country skiiers who failed a blood test to escape sanctions.

FORMER sprinter David Connolly is taking the long route to Winter Olympic glory as he prepares to represent Ireland in the men’s skeleton.

Former sprinter David Connolly is taking the long route to Winter Olympic glory as he prepares to represent Ireland in the men’s skeleton.

BIRD flu has reached western Europe with Slovenia yesterday following Italy, Greece and Bulgaria in announcing they had detected the virus in dead swans.

A wildcat work stoppage this evening by ground employees paralysed Turin’s airport and broke an Olympic games truce with local unions less than three weeks before the Winter Games in the north-western Italian city.

POPE BENEDICT XVI decried what he called the mistaken idea that leading a virtuous life was “boring” as he marked yesterday’s 40th anniversary of the end of Vatican Council II, which sparked modernising reforms in the 2,000-year-old Roman Catholic Church.

IRELAND’s Euro Indoor athletes weren’t the medal heroes of the weekend. The Special Olympics team returned yesterday from the Winter Games in Nagano, Japan with a 12 medal haul in tow.

EIGHT athletes jet off from Ireland to Japan today with high hopes of success at the Special Olympics World Winter Games.

Three of the world’s largest sportswear manufacturers are demanding that Adidas-Salomon be ordered to change its three-stripe designs on uniforms used in future Olympic Games, including the forthcoming Winter Games in Turin.

A second analysis of disgraced Spanish gold medallist Johann Muehlegg’s failed drugs test has also proved positive.

The first possible doping case of the Winter Games has been thrown out because the test wasn't handled properly.

Triple Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent has been offered a seat on the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission.