Building on the history of sports diplomacy, dog mushing has the opportunity to become the sport in the north that forms bonds and builds relationships. The changing role of dog mushing is due to the transforming landscape and the efficiency of snowmobiling. Thus, although the days of dogsledding as a key form of transportation may be fading, it is poised to become a form of cultural and sports diplomacy in the North.

Paralympian Abdi Jama has two ambitions at the forefront of his mind. Firstly, the wheelchair basketball player wants to get selected for Team GB’s squad for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [...]  Jama hopes to inspire more disabled athletes to get active in his native Somalia. 

Retired NBA great Shaquille O’Neal […] will go to Havana in June as part of a sports envoy program focused on Cuban youth [...] Ballerinas in Havana will also welcome a prestigious guest this year. Misty Copeland, the first African-American female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, will go to Cuba in November to lead dance clinics for minority youth and hold inclusion workshops for coaches.

"Sport is the conquest of the revolution," reads the sign looming over the outfield of Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano, the island's main stadium and hallowed ground for Cuban baseball fans [...] The bare-bones stadium is the setting of one President Barack Obama's most anticipated events during his historic visit: taking in a baseball game between the Cuban National Team and the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday.

The Nationals have expressed interest to MLB about playing the Cuban national team, while the country’s baseball commissioner has openly welcomed the Nationals to play in Havana next spring. [...] Baker feels the baseball team in the nation’s capital would carry extra significance, especially with thawing relations between the two countries.

Sport and cultural exchanges between countries and individuals “who are not on the best of terms” could help ease tensions, Spavor said in an interview. “At the very least, the involved individuals … can break down or dismiss preconceived negative ideas about each other.”

Australia’s noted ultra-marathon athlete and former politician Pat Farmer (53) will reach the city next week and run for 40 km here. [...] Dubbed as ‘public-diplomacy initiative’ to promote India-Australia relations, the event was started on January 26, when India celebrates Republic Day and Australia its National Day.