Olympics

Ukrainian Anastasiia Laletina pulled out of a major event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games on Tuesday ... after an official says her father was captured by Russian troops back home.

Team spokeswoman Natalia Harach said the 19-year-old's dad -- a soldier in the Ukrainian army -- was taken and beaten ... and Laletina was so understandably shaken up over it all, she withdrew from the middle distance sitting para biathlon.

Harach added Laletina, a nordic skier, did receive care from a team doctor after she learned of the horrifying news.

"She was very upset," Harach told media members Tuesday, "and couldn't take part in the race."

Laletina is still scheduled, for now, to compete in another skiing race at the Games. It's unclear what the status is of her father at the moment.

Ukraine has sent over nearly two dozen athletes to compete in the Games despite the ongoing conflict with Russia ... and the competitors have found big success.

"Storage Wars" star Rene Nezhoda scored big on his latest find ... unearthing tons of memorabilia that belonged to Olympic legend Florence Griffith Joyner -- Flo-Jo!

Rene tells TMZ ... his friend George bought Flo-Jo's storage locker 8 years ago in the San Diego area. Rene says he dropped several thousand dollars to take the Olympic content off his hands ... and the haul is impressive!

Rene walked away with Florence's Olympic jacket and even her signed track shoes -- the ones that she wore while breaking world records! As you'll recall, Joyner broke records in the 1988 Seoul Olympics ... for both the 100m and 200m dash! She took home 3 gold medals that year.

Also bought by Rene are rare photos, magazines featuring her, and autographed Flo-Jo Barbie dolls ... talk about a blast from the past!

Rene says he'll likely sell the pieces of history on eBay or through collectible auction house Heritage Auctions ... but if a member of Flo-Jo's family reaches out, he might work out a deal with them to return her personal items.

Flo-Jo died in 1998 after suffering a fatal epileptic seizure in her sleep. Apparently, her family paid the bills for the storage rental for years, but for some reason stopped, and that's why the locker went up for action.

Not everyone is happy about the $24 million settlement between the U.S. Women's National Team and the U.S. Soccer Federation -- Hope Solo says the deal is "infuriating" and is calling out Megan Rapinoe in the process.

"This settlement is not a 'huge win,'" the 2-time Olympic gold medalist said via Instagram on Wednesday.

"It's heartbreaking and infuriating. A 'promise' of equal pay from the Federation and backpay for a select group of players isn't equal pay and it's not what this fight was about."

As we previously reported, the USSF agreed to dispense $22 million amongst the players ($2 million for post-career ventures) after players sued for "institutionalized gender discrimination" in 2019.

Solo says she went through all the details ... and felt some type of way about the "Contingent upon the negotiation of a new collective bargaining agreement" part.

"It doesn't exist yet and is not guaranteed," Solo said.

"If the players had ever been successful in negotiating an equal CBA, there would've been no reason to sue the Federation in the first place."

Solo also slammed former USWNT teammates Rapinoe and Alex Morgan for accepting the deal -- just a day after Rapinoe said on "Good Morning America" that she was proud of all the hard work.

"Throughout the entire process, Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were the two most agreeable with the Federation," Solo said, "and to this day, continue to accept terms that are nowhere near what we set out to do."

There might be a whole bunch of mini Simone Biles's tumbling around soon ... 'cause she just revealed her fiancé, NFL player Jonathan Owens, wants "a football team" of kids in the future!!

The Olympic gold medalist had a Q&A with fans on Monday night just days after she got engaged to the Houston Texans safety ... and questions about future kids popped up several times.

One fan eventually asked how many kids the couple is planning on having -- and the 24-year-old gymnast said she wants two ... but Owens wants a whole lot more.

"So, I want two kids," she said. "He always says he wants a football team."

For those who aren't familiar, there are 53 players on an NFL roster -- and 11 starters when on the field!

But, Biles said afterward, "he usually says three. We'll see."

Biles also dropped some more info about the couple's future ... saying the two -- who got engaged on Valentine's Day -- will have their wedding on a beach, and that they're in the process of building a house.

"Wedding planning has been going well so far, it's so exciting for me," Biles said. "I'm obsessed."

"Also I'll definitely hire a planner because between this & building a house, our hands are full."

Olympic skier Remi Lindholm says it was so cold during a race at the Games in Beijing over the weekend ... his penis literally froze while he was competing.

Lindholm says the horrifying injury happened during Saturday's men's 50km mass start event ... where temps dipped so low, officials actually delayed the start and even shortened the race's overall distance to 30km to try to keep competitors safe.

The precautions, though, clearly didn't help Lindholm too much ... because he said after spending over an hour racing on the course, his junk turned into a popsicle.

"You can guess which body part was a little bit frozen when I finished," Lindholm told reporters after the race. "It was one of the worst competitions I've been in."

Lindholm said he needed a heat pack to thaw everything out -- but added that once he got warm, "the pain was unbearable."

The worst part for Lindholm? His efforts only resulted in a 28th place finish.

Turns out, this was not the first time Lindholm has experienced the terrifying race wound -- he said it happened to him in a race in Finland in 2021.

Hidden underneath this circular face is an award-winning snowboarder who has been competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics ... and now it's on you to peel back the frazzled face to guess the golden boy in the photos.

This oblong athlete may have missed his opportunity to bring home some heavy metal for his home turf of the USA ... but he's got an impressive collection of Olympics medals, ESPYs and X Games gold to reflect upon whenever he feels like it.

Gold medal-winning figure skater Tara Lipinski's good looks have been on ice for over two decades!

Here's a 15-year-old version of the Team USA ice skater smiling to the cheering fans in Nagano, Japan moments after scoring the gold medal in the women's long program beating out her teammate Michelle Kwan at the 1998 Winter Olympics XVIII. (left).

TP ... now 39 years old ... shared this selfie on her social media page while covering this year's Winter Olympics alongside her friend, co-anchor and figure skater Johnny Weir (right).

Her beauty is frozen.

The question is ...

The action from the 2022 Winter Olympics XXIV in Beijing, China hasn't been all gold medals and stacked podiums ... athletes traveled the globe to leave it all out on the frozen grounds of competition ... which of course includes some pretty crazy crashes.

Put your day on ice while you check out all the biggest slips, spills and all-out blunders to put the impressive drive and courage from the world-class athletes into perspective.

In another strange twist ... controversial Russian skating star Kamila Valieva fell to the ice multiple times and failed to medal in the women's free skate event.

15-year-old Valieva -- the best skater in the world -- was heavily favored to win leading up to the competition, but ended up finishing fourth after suffering one of the worst performances of her young career.

Kamila has been at the center of a firestorm of controversy ... after it was revealed last week that she failed a drug test in December. Valieva was popped for a performance-enhancing drug named trimetazidine. The drug helps blood flow and endurance.

Valieva was ultimately suspended for the positive test by Russian drug officials ... who then quickly reversed course, un-suspending her just a day later.

Other Olympic entities appealed the lifting of the suspension ... so the decision went to an organization called the Court of Arbitration (CAS), who ruled Valieva should be allowed to compete, despite seemingly being caught cheating.

One of their reasons? It'd cause "irreparable harm" to the 15-year-old skater.

Although Kamila didn't medal in Wednesday's event ... she did win a gold medal last week. It's still unclear if she will get to keep her medal.

Simone Biles is officially engaged ... her boyfriend, Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens, proposed to her on Valentine's Day -- and she said yes!!

Owens just posted pictures of the big moment, saying Biles "really had no clue what was coming."

The football player also shared a video and pics of the ring he used to ask the question with -- and it's spectacular.

In the pics, you can see Biles was thrilled over it all, smiling ear-to-ear and showing off her new diamond-clad hand.

Biles also commented on it all, saying it was "THE EASIEST YES."

"I can’t wait to spend forever & ever with you," she said, "you’re everything I dreamed of and more! let’s get married FIANCÉ."

Biles and Owens began dating in 2020 and have been inseparable ever since. Owens was super supportive of her during her low moments at the Olympics, and Biles has been spotted regularly at his football practices and games over the past couple years.

Congrats!!

Figure skater Dorothy Hamill was only 19 years old when she carved herself into the hearts and minds of viewers around the world -- after she stunned the judges and won the gold medal with her grace and beauty -- while representing team USA in figure skating at the XII Winter Olympic Games held in Austria back in 1976.

Dorothy competed against some of the greats of her time at XII including Wendy Burge as the DH's USA teammate, Christine Errath from team East Germany taking home the bronze medal and Dianne De Leeuw from team Netherlands taking home the silver medals.

File this under bizarre, controversial ... Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has officially been cleared to continue competing in the Winter Olympics, despite failing a drug test that initially resulted in a suspension from competition.

Last week it was revealed that 15-year-old Valieva tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance, trimetazidine (aids blood flow), back in December.

The skater -- who won gold in a team skating event -- was suspended.

But, Valieva appealed the suspension ... and the Court of Arbitration for Sport actually sided with the Olympic skater, paving the way for her to continue competing.

And, part of the reason she was cleared?

CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said preventing Valieva from competing at the Games "would cause her irreparable harm" ... especially considering she's a minor.

Athletes under 16 are held to less stringent doping standards than that of their adult counterparts ... in the eyes of CAS.

FYI, Russia isn't even officially competing in the Olympics because of pervasive cheating. They're officially called the Russian Olympic Committee.

The governing body also said because Valieva failed the test six weeks ago ... and not at the Olympics, it'd be unfair to keep her from skating.

So, Valieva will now compete ... most likely.

Jonathan Owens, shield your eyes ...

Simone Biles received a lap dance on stage at a "Magic Mike Live" show in Las Vegas on Thursday night ... and video of it, obtained by TMZ Sports, is STEAMY!!

The gymnastics star took in the performance at SAHARA Las Vegas ... when about mid-way through the act, she was pulled on stage with another woman.

It didn't take long for the shirtless dancers to rope the two ladies into their bit -- 'cause the guys grinded all over the girls ... and, at one point, one of them even picked up Biles and took her to the floor.

The whole routine lasted about two minutes -- and it featured tons of gyrating, lots of hip thrusting, and plenty of touching.

Biles played along with it all and seemed to be having a great time -- she even posed for a picture with the dancers after the show.

No word yet on Owens' thoughts on it all -- but he and Biles have both said they're madly in love with each other, so we're pretty sure the football player ain't stressing over this.

Olympic skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin's BF, Aleksander Kilde, is doing everything in his power to keep his GF's spirits up ... after she suffered yet another devastating loss at the Olympics on Wednesday.

Kilde -- an Olympic skiing star himself -- posted a photo of Mikaela sitting on the mountain, head down, along with a touching note to his girlfriend ... after she was disqualified for missing a gate and skiing off the course during the competition.

"When you look at this picture you can make up so many statements, meanings and thoughts," Aleksander wrote.

"Most of you probably look at it saying: 'she has lost it', 'she can’t handle the pressure' or 'what happened?' ... Which makes me frustrated, because all I see is a top athlete doing what a top athlete does!"

He continued ... "It’s a part of the game and it happens. The pressure we all put on individuals in the sports are enormous, so let’s give the same amount of support back.. It’s all about the balance and we are just normal human beings!!"

"I love you Kaela"

The 26-year-old -- regarded by many as the greatest skier in the world -- is off to a rocky start in Beijing ... earning 2 DQ's. In fact, it's the first time that's happened since 2011 ... when she was a teenager.

Shiffrin recently appeared on "Today" and opened up about the death of her father, who died after suffering a severe head injury.

She says the tragedy made her contemplate walking away from the sport she's been competing in her entire life.

Mikaela -- who's expected to participate in three more events at the Games -- was thankful for her man's support.

Team USA superstar Chloe Kim says she was close to passing up the opportunity to defend her gold medal at the 2022 Olympics ... admitting the anxiety she experienced the first time around was overpowering.

The 21-year-old snowboarder made the revelation on "Today" this week ... saying her newfound fame post-2018 Olympics was a lot for her to handle.

"My first one was really overwhelming," Kim says. "I was not expecting that kind of response."

She continued ... "So, then I like kind of got scared. I got really bad anxiety and I was like, maybe I can't do that again, 'cause I just don't know if I can handle it."

Kim says she needed to reset mentally and took her talents to Princeton University in search of a fresh start ... but was unable to escape her stardom there, too.

Kim says she even started to hate snowboarding because of what came with it ... which led to her two-year hiatus from the sport she grew up loving.

But, Chloe never ruled out the possibility of returning ... saying she knew she would come back if she missed it while at Princeton -- and she did.

It's not the first time a Team USA hero has opened up about their mental struggles -- Simone Biles most recently backed out of the 2020 Games -- and it certainly won't be the last.

Caitlyn Jenner mastered winning races with her legs ... and now, the Olympic gold medalist is literally shifting gears -- launching the "Jenner Racing" team.

TMZ Sports has learned the 72-year-old 1976 Olympic Decathlon champ's team will race in the W Series this season ... starting in May.

FYI, the W Series is an "international single-seater motor racing championship for female drivers."

We're told Jenner will oversee the day in, day out operation of the team.

Jenner is no stranger to motorsports. Back in 1979, she won a celebrity F1 race in Long Beach, CA. Then, in 1986, Jenner made her debut as a real deal pro driver, racing for Ford and Jack Roush.

She made 56 starts over a 6 year period.

So, Caitlyn is super familiar with racing ... but this is about more than winning or losing for the gold medalist.

"As a believer in fair competition, a lover of motor racing, and a supporter of all women in sport from the grassroots to elite level, W Series ticks every box for me and is a fusion of the different aspects of my career,"