Stephen Wilson

OXFORD, England -- Roger Bannister remembers those fabled four minutes as if they were yesterday.

Like a proud patriarch regaling wide-eyed children, the 82-year-old avidly recounts that magical four-lap race on a cinder track in Oxford on May 6, 1954 -- an event that still stands as a transcendent moment in sports.

LONDON -- The IAAF's top-ranking American sees no prospect of the United States hosting track and field's world championships, an event yet to be held in the country that traditionally produces big stars and dominates the medal count.

"We just don't have the wherewithal, starting with the fact that there is no stadium that exists that could accommodate it," Bob Hersh, the senior vice president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, said Tuesday in an interview with The Associated Press.

LONDON -- Six cities from Europe, Asia and the Middle East are competing to host the 2020 Olympics.

Submitting bids to the International Olympic Committee by Friday's deadline were Rome; Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

There were no surprises, as all six cities had previously announced their candidacies.

DURBAN, South Africa -- IOC President Jacques Rogge said Saturday he would be "delighted" if the United States decides to bid for the 2020 Olympics despite the stinging rejection of American cities in the race for two previous Summer Games.

New York failed in its bid for the 2012 Games and Chicago was eliminated in the first round for the 2016 Olympics, despite the appearance of President Barack Obama in Copenhagen for the vote in 2009.

DURBAN, South Africa -- In a frantic final day of campaigning, the three cities vying for the 2018 Winter Olympics lobbied for votes Tuesday in what shapes up as a choice between the third-time Asian bid from South Korea and the European challenger from Germany.

The International Olympic Committee will vote by secret ballot Wednesday, choosing from among the Korean resort of Pyeongchang, the Bavarian capital of Munich and the French lakeside town of Annecy.

Pyeongchang, bidding for a third successive time after close defeats for the 2010 and 2014 Games, remains the city to beat. Munich, hoping to become first city to host both a Summer and Winter Olympics, is pushing hard. Annecy is the outsider.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The IOC says NBC has retained its hold on U.S. Olympic television rights by defeating rival bids from ESPN and FOX and securing a four-games deal through 2020 worth nearly $4.4 billion.

NBC won the bid less than a month after the resignation of longtime sports and Olympics chief Dick Ebersol in a dispute with the new owners from Comcast. The victory extends NBC's reign as the Olympic network in the United States, a period stretching back 20 years.

The decision was announced officially by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge at a news conference with Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts, new NBC sports chairman Mark Lazarus and other executives.

NBC now will have exclusive rights to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, as well as the 2018 Winter Games and 2020 Olympics, whose sites have not yet been chosen.