Olympics

Ukrainian Olympic gymnast Ruslan Mezentsev is auctioning one of his most precious belongings -- his silver medal -- and donating all the money to his home country ... so they have money to fund the fight against Russia.

Mezentsev competed in the men's artistic all-around competition in Sydney in 2000 ... personally taking part in the floor exercise, pommel horse, and still rings.

Ruslan scored a total of 28.725 ... bringing the team's total to 230.306, good enough for a silver medal. The Ukrainians finished just 1.613 points behind China ... who won the gold.

Now, that silver medal is on the auction block at RR Auction ... where it already has 8 bids. The current price is $3,000 ... but expect that to rise!

Mezentsev -- who's now 41 years old -- is from a town called Kropyvnytskyi in central Ukraine.

RR says not only will all of the money from the sale be donated to the war funds ... but even the buyer's premium (the money that typically goes to the auction).

LSU star gymnast Olivia "Livvy" Dunne ditched the leotards and the balance beams for pom poms and a cheerleader 'fit for Walker Hayes' new music video -- and she crushed the role!

Hayes -- one of the biggest stars in today's country music scene -- dropped his vid for his hit song "Y'all Life" on Friday ... and Dunne made several appearances in it.

Throughout the football-themed video, the athlete and social media star -- who has 5.6 million followers on TikTok and another 1.9 million on Instagram -- flipped on the sidelines and cheered on the fake action on the field.

Hayes, meanwhile, sang about growing up in the South as one of the team's coaches.

Dunne was pumped to see the final results drop on Friday ... writing on her social media page, "Thank you @walkerhayes for including me in your music video for Y'all Life!"

The cameo is just the latest cool thing to go down in Dunne's life -- Livvy, one of the best gymnasts in the country, signed massive NIL deals in the past year and has appeared in multiple ads and commercials recently as well.

Positive update from Kim Glass ... the former Olympic volleyball star got 40 stitches removed from her eye -- less than a week after it was gashed by an object thrown by a man in a brazen attack in Los Angeles.

The 37-year-old shared the news in a video on her Instagram page Wednesday evening -- showing Beverly Hills doctor Kam Rezzadeh removing the sutures from her face in a delicate procedure.

"It was definitely down to your bone," the doc told her as he worked on her face. "But you're healing."

"One thing I've noticed with my patients is that when they're optimistic, it plays a huge part in the healing process."

Following the removal of the stitches, Glass went to Dr. Nicole Garrett in L.A. to use a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to get some of the swelling down -- and the former outside hitter said it worked marvelously.

"I just got out of the hyperbaric chamber ... this is the most I've ever been able to open eye."

"This is crazy," she added. "Like my eye is literally so much more open than before and this is my first session. I'm blown away!"

As we previously reported, Glass said a homeless man threw a metal object at her after she had finished eating with a friend in Downtown L.A. last Friday. She said she suffered multiple facial fractures and cuts in the incident.

Benson Parks, a good Samaritan, captured the aftermath of the attack on video while he held down the suspect ... showing puddles of blood on the sidewalk.

Semeon Tesfamarian -- who, according to prosecutors, has a history of using weapons to attack people at random -- was arrested for the attack ... and later charged with a felony.

Video taken in the seconds after Kim Glass was attacked on the streets of Downtown L.A. has emerged ... and it shows blood was spattered everywhere near the former volleyball star as she sat injured on the sidewalk.

Benson Parks captured the footage on his phone over the weekend, just moments after Glass, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had apparently been struck by a heavy object thrown by a homeless man who was standing near her in the street.

You can see in the clips, there were several pools of blood near Glass, who was holding a bandage near her eye and yelling in pain.

The video also shows Parks holding down the man who was suspected of throwing the object.

As we reported, Glass claims the incident happened after she had finished dining with a friend.

"He just like looked at me with some pretty hateful eyes," Glass said of the attack. "And, as I turned to go tell my friend, 'I think something's, like, wrong with him and I think he's going to hit a car,' before I knew it, a big metal bolt, like pipe, hit me right here."

"It happened so fast."

37-year-old Glass said she suffered multiple facial fractures and needed several stitches to close the gashes on her face ... though, thankfully, she added doctors were optimistic her vision would eventually return to normal.

The suspect, meanwhile, was arrested by the LAPD ... and booked on a charge of felony assault with a deadly weapon.

Volleyball star Kim Glass -- who won a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics -- says she was attacked by a homeless man in Los Angeles this weekend ... and nearly lost her eye in the incident.

Glass said it all happened on Saturday ... after she was leaving lunch with a friend at a restaurant in Downtown L.A.

In a series of videos posted to her social media page, Glass said after she had exited the eatery, she noticed a man in the street with something in his hand.

"He just like looked at me with some pretty hateful eyes," Glass said. "And, as I turned to go tell my friend, 'I think something's, like, wrong with him and I think he's going to hit a car,' before I knew it, a big metal bolt, like pipe, hit me right here."

"It happened so fast."

The 37-year-old said the man threw the object at her from several feet away ... and it slammed right into her eye socket and the bridge of her nose -- 'causing serious damage.

In her videos, taken a day after the attack, you can see her eye was nearly swollen shut, and her face was still bloodied. She said in the clips she was diagnosed with multiple facial fractures and needed stitches to close wounds.

Somehow, Glass said doctors don't expect her vision to be permanently affected by the incident. She added she was grateful for all the support she's received from friends and family since the incident, and happy things didn't turn out worse.

"Just be safe out there," she said in her videos ... "There's a lot of mentally ill people on these streets right now and you shouldn't have to be fearful when you walk but it's true. And, so, you guys just be safe."

As for the man who she accused of throwing the object, she said bystanders held him down until police arrived. No word if the man was ultimately arrested.

Glass -- a 6-foot-3 outside hitter -- played for the U.S. Women's National Team for years following a stellar career at the Univ. Of Arizona ... and also modeled in her time off the court, appearing in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

President Biden just announced that Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and soccer star Megan Rapinoe will be receiving the nation's highest civilian honor -- the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The Commander-in-chief made the announcement on Friday ... revealing the two superstar athletes are among 17 names to receive the prestigious award later this month.

The White House said these individuals reflect what America embodies -- hard work, perseverance, and faith.

Biles -- on top of being the greatest gymnast of all time -- has been an outspoken advocate for mental health and sexual assault victims since becoming a household name.

Rapinoe -- an Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Cup winner -- has led the charge for the U.S. Women's National Team's fight for equal pay ... and is at the forefront of LGBTQ+ rights and racial justice.

Other notable names chosen are Denzel Washington, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, John McCain (posthumous), and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (posthumous).

Of course, #46 knows a thing or two about the honor ... in fact, President Obama surprised his VP with the Presidential Medal for his years of public service.

The White House prides itself on giving the award to individuals who've excelled in public or private endeavors ... but also played a role in cultivating a better country for all.

Other athletes who have received the honor include Jerry West, Tiger Woods, Lou Holtz and Roger Staubach.

"I would say 'kiss my ass,' but y'all can't afford it."

Sha'Carri Richardson gave an unfiltered message to all of her haters after failing to qualify for the world championships next month ... giving the double bird and vowing to return to dominance.

It all went down after the track star finished fifth with a time of 22.47 seconds at the 200-meter semifinals on Sunday in Eugene, Oregon ... which eliminated her from competing for Team USA at the 2022 World Athletics Championship.

The 22-year-old sprinter made sure to let her critics know she's blocking out all the negativity shortly after her disappointing outing ... and she didn't hold back.

"I normally don't be making video to post on here 'cause I really don't got nothing to explain to y'all," Richardson said on Instagram.

"But, to my supporters, I wanna thank y'all. It's been a long road. Ain't over yet. To my haters, I got another video for y'all."

Sha'Carri wasn't lying, because she posted a video laying on her back and spreading her legs ... basically telling all her haters they can "kiss my ass."

The critics weren't the only ones receiving the heat from Richardson ... she also went at the media about respecting athletes following her race.

"Be more understanding of the fact that they are still human, no matter just to the fact that y'all are just trying to get something to put out in an article to make a dollar. Thank you."

Of course, Richardson has been making headlines ever since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics controversy ... when she was banned for 30 days and missed the games after testing positive for marijuana.

An artistic swimmer nearly lost her life after passing out in the pool following an intense routine at a major event Wednesday ... but, thankfully, her coach quickly dove into the water and rescued her.

The terrifying scene went down at the FINA World Aquatic Championships in Budapest, Hungary ... when American Anita Alvarez had just wrapped up a performance in the women's solo free event and suddenly fainted.

The photos from the pool are horrifying ... they show a lifeless Alvarez sinking to the bottom, clearly in danger of drowning.

Fortunately, her coach, Andrea Fuentes, immediately knew something was wrong ... and jumped in to save her.

Fuentes grabbed Alvarez, pulled her to the top ... and, according to U.S. Artistic Swimming officials, the 25-year-old swimmer is now expected to be OK despite the grim images.

"Anita has been evaluated by medical staff and will continue to be monitored," the team said in a statement Thursday morning. "She is already feeling much better and using today to rest."

Fuentes, meanwhile, spoke about her heroic efforts to BBC on Thursday morning ... saying she had to rub Alvarez's face to get her to release the water she had taken into her lungs after collapsing in the pool.

"She was very tight on her jaw," Fuentes said. "So I tried to wake her up and massage the jaw because it was too tense. And then she coughed and threw up the water out."

Shockingly, this is not the first time Alvarez has needed Fuentes to rescue her ... the swimmer had a similar incident go down last year at an Olympic qualification event.

U.S. Artistic Swim officials said there is now a chance Alvarez could still compete in Friday's team event.

Sue Bird -- a 4-time WNBA champion and star guard for the Seattle Storm -- says she's retiring ... announcing Thursday she's hanging up her sneakers for good at the end of this season.

"I’ve decided this will be my final year," said Bird, who shared a photo of her hoopin' as a youngster.

"I have loved every single minute, and still do, so gonna play my last year, just like this little girl played her first."

The 41-year-old, who was a 2-time NCAA champion at UConn, was picked #1 overall back in 2002 ... and has played every year since for the Storm.

In her 19 years in Seattle, she piled up 12 All-Star selections ... and became the WNBA's all-time assists leader as well as the league's all-time leader in starts.

Her retirement will mark truly the end of one of the greatest basketball careers ever -- as Bird is one of only six players ever to win an NCAA championship, a WNBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal.

Sad news ... South Korean hockey player Cho Min-ho -- who scored the first-ever goal for the country's Olympic team in 2018 -- has passed away after battling cancer.

He was only 35.

The International Ice Hockey Federation confirmed Min-Ho's passing in a statement on Wednesday -- saying the forward died at a Seoul hospital after an eight-month battle with lung cancer.

"The Korean ice hockey family will remember him not only as a great player," IIHF officials said, "but also as a great human and leader on and off the ice."

Min-ho started playing for South Korea's national team in 2008 -- and became a hero during the PyeongChang Olympics.

Within the first few minutes of the team's preliminary round game against the Czech Republic, Min-ho scored ... making him the first-ever Korean player to hit the back of the net in Olympic men's ice hockey history.

In total, Min-ho competed in 11 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship tournaments ... and was named the team captain for the South Korean national team at the Final Olympic Qualification for the 2022 Olympics in 2021.

A seventh member of Haiti's Special Olympics delegation is now missing in Florida.

Just days after six Haitians -- who were in town to participate in a soccer competition at the 2022 Special Olympics Games -- disappeared in the Kissimmee area, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office announced that 25-year-old Louis Jacques Wilguens has vanished as well.

In a statement, the sheriff's office said Wilguens was last seen getting off a bus at Disney's All-Star Sports Resort in Lake Buena Vista on Saturday at around 4:30 PM.

Police say Wilguens was wearing blue jeans and a Special Olympics shirt with "Haiti" written on it, and had been scheduled to fly back to Haiti on Sunday, but apparently didn't make the flight.

Police are urging anyone who sees Wilguens to "check his well-being" and immediately get in touch with authorities.

Last week, police said the other 6 Haitians, whose ages range from 18-32, had disappeared after turning in their room keys and leaving behind their personal items. Police said at the time they did not suspect foul play.

The Sheriff's Office said in a statement they had been in communication with Walt Disney World and the Special Olympics over the disappearances.

Six Haitians who were in Florida for the Special Olympics this month have mysteriously vanished ... and now, an active search is underway to find them.

The Osceola County Sheriff's Office announced this week that Oriol Jean, 18, Anderson Petit-Frère, 18, Peter Mianovich Berlus, 19, Nicholson Fontilus, 20, Steevenson Jacquet, 24, and Antione Joseph Mithon, 32 all disappeared on June 6.

According to cops, the six -- members of Haiti's Special Olympics delegation who were competing in the soccer competition -- were last seen at around 2:30 PM in Kissimmee. All of them, police say, turned in their hotel room keys, left their personal belongings and then vanished.

The sheriff's office said it's now investigating it all as a "missing person's case."

"We are in communication with Walt Disney World, Special Olympics, and our Law Enforcement and Federal partners," cops said in a statement. "At this time, we believe this is an isolated event and do not suspect foul play."

The Special Olympics event began on June 5 in the Orlando area and is slated to run through the end of this week. According to organizers, it's set to feature around 5,500 athletes and coaches -- with roughly 120,000 people expected to tune in at the venues.

One of the missing Haitian Olympians, Petit-Frère, wrote in a social media post just last week that he was excited for the event ... and called it an "honor" to be a part of the team.

Simone Biles and nearly 100 other women are going after the FBI ... seeking $1 billion from the org. after it allegedly mishandled its investigation into the sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nassar.

Attorneys representing the Olympic gold medalist -- as well as gymnastics stars Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, and approximately 90 other women -- announced Wednesday morning their intentions to file lawsuits against the FBI.

According to the women and their lawyers, if FBI agents had properly intervened when they were first alerted to Nassar's behavior in 2015, they could have prevented him from targeting more women. The women are now seeking damages that'll exceed $1 billion.

"My fellow survivors and I were betrayed by every institution that was supposed to protect us -- the US Olympic Committee, USA Gymnastics, the FBI and now the Department of Justice," Maroney said in a statement.

"I had some hope that they would keep their word and hold the FBI accountable after we poured out our hearts to the US Senate Judiciary Committee and begged for justice. It is clear that the only path to justice and healing is through the legal process."

Nassar, who was eventually arrested over the allegations in 2016 and pled guilty in 2017, was ultimately sentenced to decades behind bars for his crimes.

In December, Biles and the other survivors reached a $380 million agreement to settle the lawsuits they had against the USA Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics.

John Manly, the gymnasts' attorney, said at the time the settlement was the result of bravery ... commending the women for refusing to stay silent.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, 3x Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer and civil rights attorney, wholeheartedly disagrees with Lia Thomas ... insisting trans athletes have a significant advantage over biological women.

Hogshead joined "TMZ Live" on Tuesday ... and addressed statements Thomas made earlier in the day when she joined Good Morning America for her first interview, telling Juju Chang ... "Trans women are not a threat to women's sport."

But, Nancy, who also runs a female advocacy organization called Champion Women, told Harvey and Charles that Lia is just wrong.

"After somebody has been through male puberty, you cannot roll that back. So, it isn't fair," the former Olympian said, citing several experts.

"We're hoping that we can get sports governing bodies and legislatures and others to care more about fairness than any other conclusion."

It's not that Nancy isn't supportive of Lia Thomas -- she says she is -- everywhere except the swimming pool.

"I affirm who [Lia] wants to be for all of her life. Whether it's employment, the classroom, or anyplace else. But when it comes to sports, sports is not based on identity. It is based on biology. That is why we have the women's sports category."

FYI, the UPenn swimmer, an NCAA champ in the 500m freestyle event, is done with college athletics after recently graduating. However, Lia isn't done competing ... she's made it clear she wishes to compete in the Summer Olympics in 2024.

And, Hogshead believes the future of women's sports is literally on the line.

"If sport is not based on sex segregation, and if gender identity equals sex discrimination, we might lose the right as woman athletes to be able to have separate sex sports."

That's something Nancy is intent on preventing from happening.

"I am not going to allow this generation of women to have to be gracious losers to somebody that has a biological advantage that you can't train for, you can't eat better, you can't find better coaching," Hogshead said.

Cody Simpson can add elite swimmer to his already impressive accomplishments, 'cause the 25-year-old just earned a spot on the Australian swim team ... and will compete against some of the world's fastest in the pool at the Commonwealth Games.

Simpson -- musician, actor, and former teen heartthrob -- competed against his fellow countrymates down under on Wednesday ... finishing 3rd in the 100-meter butterfly at the Australian Championships.

And, no shame in finishing behind the first and second place athletes ... both guys are Olympians.

It's not a total shock that Cody performed as well as he did. In fact, as a teenager, Simpson was a top-level swimmer. However, after his music career took off and he became a bonafide celebrity, he took a big step back from the sport.

However, Simpson got the itch to swim again ... and rededicated himself to the craft about two years ago.

Fast forward until today ... and Simpson -- who recently dated Miley Cyrus -- will compete against over 70 other nations this summer.

The Commonwealth Games were first held in 1930, and in addition to swimming, also feature a bunch of other sports like archery, basketball, beach volleyball, hockey, rowing, and weight lifting, amongst others.

Simpson is clearly getting better in a hurry. During last year's Olympic trials, he swam the 100m butterfly in 52.94 seconds. He was nearly one second faster during Wednesday's finals.

Perhaps it shouldn't be too shocking that Cody's kicking ass -- he reportedly has Michael Phelps in his corner, coaching him up as he continues to make a splash in the swimming world.

Speaking of the man with 23 Olympic gold medals ... the 2024 Summer Games in Paris are quickly approaching.

Matt Hamilton's famous locks are no more -- the U.S. curling legend just chopped them off ... but, don't worry, he got the cut for a VERY good cause!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Hamilton -- who won a gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics -- hit up a Great Clips salon in Madison, Wisc. on Friday in order to cut his luscious hair and donate it to kids who have experienced hair loss due to medical issues.

It's a sizeable donation from Hamilton ... considering Matt's had the long hair for FOUR years. And, we're told as of chopping time, it had reached over a foot in length!!

Hamilton also got the cut to help raise awareness and money for brain cancer research.

As for how the good deed turned out aesthetically ... check out the before and after -- Hamilton sure looks good to us!