By Tom DegunJuly 6 - The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games bid has received a major boost after senior members of the African Commonwealth delegation admitted they were highly impressed with the city after watching the marathon take place through the streets.

South Africa has a lot of team sports like bowls and that sort of thing, so you have to cater for everyone

With Africa you have to worry about all of them and they have a lot of their own African games, they're

By David Owen in DurbanJuly 5 - The outcome of tomorrow's potentially decisive first round of voting in the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics race here may be determined by fewer than 95 voters.

electorate in this high-stakes contest, it emerged that at least six of them would not be coming to South

Africa for various reasons.These are: Guinea's Alpha Ibrahim Diallo, Saudi Arabia's Prince Nawaf Faisal

Bokel from Germany, Guy Drut and Jean-Claude Killy from France and Dae Sung Moon and Kun-Hee Lee from South

Paralympics then it will have the same effect on the country as when Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games, South

duty" to travel here to promote Pyeongchang's bid.Among those who had urged him to make the trip was South

The one cloud hanging over Pyeongchang's bid is the relationship between North and South Korea, with

move heaven"July 2011: Kim Yu-Na greeted in Durban by Pyeongchang Dream Programme graduateJune 2011: Africa

promised support to develop winter sports from all 2018 Olympic biddersJune 2011: South Korean winter

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJuly 5 - South Africa could still launch a bid for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics

"It is a dream of mine to see the Olympics come to South Africa or Africa in my lifetime."

South Africa was seen as a strong potential contender, especially after the success of the World Cup.

The IOC would welcome a strong African bid, of course," he said after arriving in South Africa."

Africa may still bid for 2020 Olympics claims Sports MinisterJune 2011: South Africa to launch bid for

2011: Exclusive - South Africa hope to make decision on 2020 Olympic bid this month

superstar to supplement the efforts of bid leader Katarina Witt, Annecy's big achievement since arriving in South

Africa has been to unearth a compelling message.In their beach-front marquee, opposite the local casino

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJuly 4 - Munich's campaign to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics is to be bolstered by the presence of football legend Franz Beckenbauer, who is due to arrive here tomorrow to support their bid, chair Katarina Witt revealed today.

Beckenbauer left for South Africa full of optimism."

Olympics and Paralympics to hold a press conference, attracting more than 100 journalists, mostly from South

Korea, who have travelled en-masse to South Africa to cover the German city's rivals Pyeongchang.

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJuly 3 - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak today chaired a meeting

that a couple attending their daughter's wedding reception at the hotel had their car towed away by South

executive of Pyeongchang 2018, and Park Yong-sung, the President of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), and South

storiesJuly 2011: Kim Yu-Na greeted in Durban by Pyeongchang Dream Programme graduateJune 2011: Africa

promised support to develop winter sports from all 2018 Olympic biddersJune 2011: South Korean winter

Winter 2018 Olympics and Paralympics to arrive here ahead of the final vote when she was greeted by South

interest and participation in winter sports across the world, when she was 13 and was taught to skate by South

More than 200 of those children have come from 12 African nations and 29 specifically from South Africa.Contact

the writer of this story at [email protected] storiesJune 2011: Africa promised

support to develop winter sports from all 2018 Olympic biddersJune 2011: South Korean winter sports

FestivalJune 2011: Korean shop trying to gather 2,018,000 messages of support for Pyeongchang 2018June 2011: South

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJuly 1 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has written a personal letter to all the members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urging them to vote for Munich 2018 to host the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

national affair" for the Germans "of significant importance".Merkel, who will be represented here in South

Africa by German President Christian Wulff and Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, stressed that

accusations of a conflict of interests after his organisation signed a sponsorship deal with Samsugng, a South

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJune 30 - Annecy's campaign to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, already struggling to keep pace with rivals Munich and Pyeongchang, will be the only one of the three bidders not to be represented here by its Head of State after President Nicolas Sarkozy resisted attempts for him to make the trip.

Committee (IOC) Session next Wednesday (July 6) and Pyeongchang will be boosted by the presence of South

Rhone-Alpes region, and Eric Fournier, the Mayor of·Chamonix Mont-Blanc, who will not be travelling to South

Africa either.Recriminations about Annecy's campaign have started already.Beigbeder, who took over as

By Duncan Mackay in DurbanJune 30 - Former FIFA President Joao Havelange, the longest serving member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is set to miss the vote for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics here next week, it has been revealed.

Sergio Martins told the Associated Press that it's "almost certain" that Havelange will not travel to South

Africa because a close family member is due to have medical treatment in the next few days and he wants

By Emily GoddardJune 28 - The burgeoning international appeal of the Disabled British Open (DBO) golf championships has seen the registration of the tournament's first US player.

Resort & Spa (ESN) in August, although last year's field did feature golfers from as far afield as South

Africa, Pakistan, Spain, Ireland and Germany.For 32-year-old Faircloth, however, it is not just a golf

The DBO, which is delivered through Tourism South East and funded by Legacy Trust UK, was launched in

By Tom Degun in the Gold CoastJune 25 - Gideon Sam, the President of the South African Sports Confederation

and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), has revealed that a South African bid for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic

Infrastructure in South Africa improved dramatically because of the World Cup and we showed the world

It needs to fit into an overall plan for the good of South Africa."

events because there is still a long way to go in South Africa, even after the World Cup."

support for them from the whole of South Africa was amazing."

Africa may still bid for 2020 Olympics claims Sports MinisterJune 2011: South Africa to launch bid for

By Andrew Warshaw in MoscowJune 24 - Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup came under attack today from FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke, who warned they were lagging behind schedule and were not the best model for 2018 hosts Russia to copy, which will surely set alarms ringing about the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics.

Speaking at the inaugural Inside World Football Forum in Moscow, Valcke said South Africa last year

Valcke suggested Russia look to South Africa rather than Brazil if they need any encouragement."

In South Africa the main goal was to show the world that Africa could organise a World Cup," he added

There was a time when people were talking about a Plan B for South Africa."

I can tell you that South Africa is now a Plan B for anywhere else."