Olympics

James Caan doesn't seem too shocked about the Shaun White sexual harassment case -- telling TMZ Sports, "Everybody had sexual harassment. How the f*ck do you think we repopulated?!"

Caan was riffing on the topic outside Craig's in West Hollywood -- where he took a second to make one thing perfectly clear ... "I mean, I never did anything wrong!"

Shaun White's sexual harassment accuser -- his former bandmate Lena Zawaideh -- is furious he referred to the case as "gossip" ... and she's carefully unloading on him, through her attorney, in a way to avoid violating the terms of her settlement.

"Yesterday, Shaun White used the word 'gossip' to refer to the past sexual harassment lawsuit by his former drummer ... our client," says Lena's lawyer, Lawrance Bohm.

He continues ... "There are powerful legal forces at play which prevent Ms. Zawaideh from speaking about the allegations and ultimate outcome of the sexual harassment case."

"Before Mr. White made his comments, [Lena] believed that this matter was in the past and she was happy to put the situation behind her ... Unfortunately, by his recent comments and conduct, Mr. White has minimized the problem of sexual harassment in this country."

"Mr. White's comments, on the world stage, directly impugn the character of Ms. Zawaideh. No woman wants to be called a 'gossip' or a liar by the harasser. Minimizing sexual harassment maximizes the harm to Ms. Zawaideh."

He concludes ... "Hopefully, before our country declares someone 'the best of the U.S.' there will be investigation and due diligence."

As we reported ... White apologized on the "Today" show Wednesday for dismissing his sexual harassment case as "gossip" when an ABC reporter asked him about the allegations possibly tarnishing his legacy. The question came up at the media conference following Shaun's gold medal run on the men's half-pipe Tuesday.

We broke the story ... White was sued by Zawaideh in August 2016 for allegedly sexually harassing her for years, and had text messages to back it up. She claimed during her 7-year run with the band, White would text her penis pics, sex videos involving fecal matter and demanded she change her hairstyle.

White denied the allegations, but ultimately settled the case with Lena in May 2017.

Shaun White says he's "truly sorry" for referring to his sexual harassment case as "gossip" -- saying, "It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today."

The snowboarding legend appeared on the "Today" show early Wednesday to address the comments he made during Tuesday night's post-Olympic media conference ... where he was asked about the graphic sexual harassment suit filed against him in 2016.

TMZ Sports broke the story back in August 2016 ... White was sued by his female bandmember, Lena Zawaideh, who claimed White would text her penis pics, sex videos involving fecal matter and forced her to style her hair in a way that appeased him during her 7-year run with the group.

White denied the allegations -- but ultimately settled the case with Zawaideh in May 2017, the terms of which were not disclosed.

But Tuesday night in South Korea -- right after White won gold in the men's halfpipe -- he was asked by an ABC reporter to address the allegations. White said he was there to talk about the Olympics, not "gossip."

A second reporter wanted to ask follow-up questions about the case, but was shut down by the moderator.

America's Olympic Luger Chris Mazdzer says he isn't having any issues in or out of the Olympic village in PyeongChang 'cause Ryan Lochte taught him exactly what NOT to do.

Chris just made history as the first American man to medal in singles luge, and he told us things are going smoothly for U.S. Olympians in S. Korea. A much different story from the disaster Lochte created during the Rio games 2 years ago.

You'll recall ... Lochte was at the center of an international scandal when he was charged with filing a false police report about being robbed at a gas station. He was eventually cleared, but not without a lot of hoopla and intrigue.

If ya got any doubts about Ronda Rousey as a wrestler, listen to this clip of WWE champ A.J. Styles -- and we guarantee he'll change your mind.

Forget her UFC accomplishments -- Styles says what really matters is Rousey's Olympic pedigree, something she shares with Kurt Angle. FYI, Kurt won gold in freestyle wrestling. Ronda has a bronze in judo.

So, A.J. told us Rousey should have no problem dominating WWE just like Angle ... and following the trail he blazed all the way to the Hall of Fame!

"She’s an athlete. She can adapt. That’s what she does," A.J. told TMZ Sports.

Oh, it's true. It's DAMN TRUE!!

Wanna see Tonya Harding knock a chick out cold with a devastating right cross?

You're in luck ... because TMZ Sports found extremely rare footage from Tonya's last professional boxing match -- and she straight DESTROYED her opponent.

It all went down in 2005 -- when a 35-year-old Harding (3-3) stepped into the ring to face Brittney Drake in Brittney's first pro boxing match, a fight promoted by Celebrity Boxing creator Damon Feldman.

The 2018 Winter Olympics officially kicked off while everyone on this side of Earth was asleep ... and while ya snoozed ya also lost out on Team USA walking out to "GANGNAM STYLE"!!!

The U.S. of A was led by flag bearer and luger Erin Hamlin at the Opening Ceremony's Parade of Nations in South Korea. Veep Mike Pence was among the dignitaries who watched from his suite ... no doubt the spotlight belonged to Team USA as everyone's ears perked up when rapper Psy came on.

Soccer legend Abby Wambach doesn't seem too worried for Adam Rippon in his spat with Vice President Mike Pence ... telling TMZ Sports, "I think [Rippon] can handle himself."

Rippon -- an openly gay U.S. figure skater -- has been blasting Pence in the media over the V.P.'s stance on gay rights, even saying he wanted to skip a meet-and-greet with him.

So, when we saw Wambach -- who's also an openly gay athlete -- we had to ask her opinion ... and even though she was trying to play it cool, it was obvious she's got Rippon's back.

Team USA athletes have made their way across the world to South Korea, and they're all geared up to hit the ice and snow ... to bring home some hardware!

Lindsey Vonn (with her doggo, Lucy), Shaun White, Alex Shibutani and Sam Michener are among the 244 athletes on the U.S. Team in PyeongChang for today's Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Vonn's favored to win her women's downhill skiing event, Chen is USA's great figure skating hope ... and everyone knows what "The Flying Tomato" can do in the half-pipe.

Larry Nassar was just sentenced to an additional 40-125 YEARS in prison ... less than 2 weeks after a judge signed his "death warrant" with a 40-175 year term in a separate case.

This time, the disgraced ex-Team USA doctor was being charged for sexual assault crimes he committed at Twistars USA Gymnastics Club in Lansing, Michigan.

Last week, he heard impact statements from dozens of his victims ... and was nearly attacked by the father of 3 girls he abused.

Nassar issued an apology to his victims in court ... but the judge wasn't buying it, telling Larry -- "I am not convinced that you understand what you did was wrong. Clearly you are in denial. You don't get it."

FYI, Nassar was already sentenced to 60 years for child porn crimes ... bringing his minimum years behind bars to 140.

Violence is not the answer ... even when it comes to Dr. Larry Nassar -- this according to Gabby Douglas and her mom who are strongly condemning the father who attacked Nassar in court.

Natalie Hawkins was at LAX with Gabby where she told TMZ Sports she knows exactly how Randall Margraves was feeling before he went nuclear in court ... since Gabby was also one of Nassar's victims.

"My daughter was one of the [victims]. I don't care how angry you are, the important thing is to maintain your emotions," Hawkins said ... "It's a bad example for the kids."

Gabby said people shouldn't fight evil with evil ... they should combat it with good.

I, Nancy ... am now a New England Patriots cheerleader!!

The figure skating superstar dusted off her skates and hit the ice with the Pats cheer squad Tuesday in Minneapolis ... teaching the ladies how to nail some of the basic moves right before the Super Bowl.

We gotta admit ... it's an accomplishment in itself that nobody busted their ass. Then again ... they have a 2-time Olympic medalist showing them the ropes.

But the teacher turned into the student when Kerrigan was handed a set of pom poms and joined the girls for a "Let's Go Pats" chant ... ON ICE!!

Usain Bolt was locked and loaded in Cape Town this past weekend ... tearin' up the South African party city with the help of a gold-plated champagne super soaker!!

Bolt rolled through local hot spot Grand Cafe & Beach with a small entourage -- poppin' bottles, smokin' cigars and (of course) gettin' his groove on.

The retired sprinter's Sunday Funday wrapped a little before midnight -- but not before he blasted his homies with some heavenly Brut.

As if Blake Griffin's week couldn't get any worse, U.S. Olympic star Lolo Jones just went all the way IN on the hooper ... calling him the "worst date ever" and a "terrible kisser."

Griffin was part of a blockbuster trade from the Clippers to the Pistons on Monday ... which Lolo apparently thought was the perfect time to reveal her bad experience with B.G.

Sources tell us the two went on a date "years ago" -- and Lolo's post was a "half joke."

Wonder if Blake's half-laughing?

Dominique Moceanu is celebrating the bravery of her fellow Team USA gymnasts who helped bring Larry Nassar to justice ... years after she started sounding the alarm about abuse in the sport.

The 1996 gold medalist told us she first heard about Nassar 2 years ago, when Jamie Dantzscher confided in her. Several years earlier, Dominique had accused multiple people -- including coach Bela Karolyi -- of emotional and physical abuse, but says the convo with Jamie was the first time she'd heard of sexual abuse.