ICYMI: 'Miracle on Ice'; Tokyo 2020 Torch Arrival Plans

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(ATR) The enduring words of legendary broadcaster Al Michaels’ ‘Do you believe in miracles? Yes!’ as the 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team shocked the Soviet Union 4-3 in Lake Placid are being heard over and over again this week.

It remains a defining moment transcending the Olympic Games and sport in general, one that Michaels, who announced the classic contest for ABC Sports, is often still asked about. This week marks the 40th anniversary of the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics and remarkable hockey game referred to as the ‘Miracle on Ice'.

Members of the U.S. team are gathering in Las Vegas this Saturday, while attending an NHL game, exactly 40 years after the miraculous victory of February 22, 1980.

Surprisingly, the 5 p.m. medal round contest between the young American squad – average age of 22 – and then four-time defending Olympic champion Soviet Union wasn’t broadcast live in the U.S., but rather on tape delay in prime time later that evening.

In the quaint village of Lake Placid and throughout the Adirondack Mountain region of upstate New York, another lesser-known play-by-play announcer, Sandy Caligiore, called the game live for WNBZ-AM local radio.

"3, 2, 1…yes, it’s over, it’s over. The U.S…they said it was impossible. The United States has upset the Soviet Union. I can’t believe it, this is a miracle, I can’t believe it," Caligiore shouted from his broadcast position inside Lake Placid’s Olympic Center as flag-waving U.S. fans erupted in euphoria.

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Welcoming the Olympic Flame to Japan

(ATR) Tokyo 2020 organizers reveal details of the Olympic Flame Arrival Ceremony.

Upon arrival at Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Matsushima Base in Matsushima, Miyagi prefecture, on March 20, the Olympic flame will be welcomed by children from the cities of Ishinomaki, Matsushima and Onagawa.

The ceremony will also include the "Blue-Impulse" aerobatic team tracing the five-ringed Olympic symbol in the sky with colored smoke trails, and the JASDF Central Band performing songs including the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay Background Music "Hope Lights Our Way".

The flame’s arrival in Japan comes eight days after the Flame Lighting Ceremony at Ancient Olympia in Greece on March 12. After a week-long torch relay through Greece, a Flame Handover ceremony will be held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on March 19.

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China Confia en un "Equipo Fuerte" a Tokio 2020 Pese a Coronavirus

(ATR) A pesar de las condiciones sensiblemente adversas por la epidemia del coronavirus, los dirigentes chinos confían en un equipo nacional "fuerte" para los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio en cinco meses.

Todos sus equipos nacionales están entrenando desde hace semanas en condiciones seudoclandestinas.

Los apartamentos, los lugares de entrenamiento y los comedores de los atletas están cerrados para evitar la infección por virus.

"Todos nuestros equipos se están centrando en su entrenamiento y competencias", dijo un portavoz de la Administración General de Deportes de China el jueves.

"Confiamos en construir un equipo chino fuerte en los Juegos Olímpicos y en luchar contra el nuevo coronavirus", dijo según la agencia Xinhua.

Según el portavoz, la Administración General del Deporte ha tomado una serie de medidas para cuidar bien a los atletas y al mismo tiempo garantizar su entrenamiento normal.

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