Studying the Olympics should be a required experience for anyone running for or serving in public office. Maybe then they could get over the persistent, uncompromising ego that figures so large in politics, and end up working for the common good.

Only cricket diplomacy will not do between India and Pakistan...Polo is one of the favourite games in both Baltistan and Ladakh. This is the traditional sport of both the regions. If this sport is encouraged then people from both these regions can be made to come together in dialogue and cross-border tours and travel which will open new vistas for reaching long-lasting peace.

Australia has always punched above its weight at the Olympics and was perhaps the first country to realize the soft power that can be harnessed by sporting success on the international stage.

The Olympic Games and the World Cup offer host cities and countries a unique opportunity to make their mark on the world stage. However, such global sporting events aren't always held just for fun. According to Loïc Ravenel, the Games are always viewed as a statement on the national and international stage.

The State Department, like the rest of America, has its eyes fixed on the London Olympics. But officials there aren’t just rooting for Team USA — they’re also looking for new recruits. Today’s gold medalists, after all, are tomorrow’s sports diplomats.

London 2012 organisers have apologised and blamed human error for Wednesday's wrong flag mix-up when South Korea's flag appeared alongside North Korea's women's football team on stadium screens as players warmed up before their opening match. The team left the pitch in protest at the blunder and initially refused to play but the game with Colombia at Hampden Park, Glasgow, eventually kicked off more than an hour late after hurried corrections to the video rectified the spectacular mistake.

As proof that Chinese fans won’t lavish attention on a player simply because of his ethnic background Beyer pointed to Yi Jianlian. The Chinese-born power forward entered the NBA to much fanfare in 2007 only to fade quickly into anonymity after failing to impress on the court.