Federer donates to Swiss effort, Steph Curry to interview virus expert and sport stars work out with their kids - updates from around the world

Children and animals played major parts in athlete workouts, and lifting the mood today. Scroll down and enjoy.

9 minBy Rory Jiwani
Fed THUMB

Friendship, excellence, and respect are the three core Olympic values, and we have been touched by the way the sports world has responded to these challenging times.

And not just Olympians either.

The Olympic family as a whole, and that's all of us, has come up with brilliant ways to help and lift each other up.

Here's a collection of tweets, posts, memes, gifs, gags, and messages that have brought us inspiration and motivation - and made us smile!

We want this to be as interactive as possible so please comment, say hi, tell us how you're doing and send ideas, stories, and your own inspirations on Instagram or Twitter.

All times Central European Time (UTC+1)

20:15 And it's a wrap

That's all from our live team today. Hope you've enjoyed the posts from athletes as we try and stay positive in these testing times.

Thanks for being here and come back tomorrow for more uplifting messages from the world of sport.

20:10 Canadian softballers take part in virtual practice

Canadian softball player Sara Groenewegen speaks for many of us in lockdown when she says, "I miss my friends."

But she posted a great video of her and her friends throwing balls to each other, be they indoors, in the garden, in the park or even up a lamppost.

19:50 Steph Curry to interview White House virus adviser Dr Fauci

Here's a great example of an athlete using their platform to raise awareness.

Three-time NBA champion Steph Curry will be talking with immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci live on his Instagram on Thursday.

The Tokyo 2020 hopeful has asked for questions for a Q&A session with the man who has recently spoken at Coronavirus briefings given by United States President Donald Trump.

19:35 Amir Khan offers to help health effort

We reported earlier that London 2012 venue, the ExCeL centre was being transformed into a hospital to aid the COVID-19 relief effort.

Now Beijing 2008 boxing silver medallist Amir Khan has offered up a large building of his to be used for patients with hospital beds at a premium.

Since turning pro in 2009, Khan has been a unified world light-welterweight champion and is now in the hunt for a welterweight belt.

Rio de Janeiro's famous Maracana, which hosted the 2016 Olympic men's final, is one of several Brazilian football stadiums being converted into field hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients.

More than half of the teams in the 20-strong Serie A league have given up their arenas in Rio and Sao Paulo with those two highly-populated cities struggling for hospital beds.

That 2016 gold medal decider between Brazil and Germany was a remarkable match which had pretty much everything. And you can relive it here.

17:10 Beach Volley Viking finds new partner

Beach volleyball fans will know all about Norway's top duo Anders Mol and Christian Sorum.

But did you know that Mol has an elder brother Hendrik who also plays in elite competitions alongside Anders' former partner, their cousin Mathias Berntsen?

The four are actually known as the Beach Volley Vikings.

Well, yesterday's announcement re Tokyo 2020 looks to have given Berntsen pause for thought - or should that be paws for thought? - with his dog Kiara playing her part in a contender for best sporting/animal crossover video of the year so far.

16:50 Pole vault champ Stefanidi is off schedule

Yesterday's postponement of Tokyo 2020 would have been followed by several fitness regimes and training schedules going out of the proverbial window.

Greece's pole vault champion from Rio 2016, Katerina Stefanidi, is a case in point.

16:35 We have a winner!

Those videos of athletes working out with their children at home are amazing and there seem to be plenty of them.

But this one has to be the best so far. It's Slovenia's two-time C1 canoe slalom Olympian and 2017 world champion Benjamin Savsek.

If you find one better, let us know on Instagram or Twitter.

16:05 Margarita Mamun and another baby workout

We're definitely seeing a trend for using loved ones in home workouts, from cats to small children.

And the kids are running away with this - we mentioned Margarita Mamun with regard to 'Sports Swap' earlier (see 12:50pm post). Well, here she is with what I think we can describe as a vigorous 'squat and press'.

The Russian rhythmic gymnast retired soon after her gold at Rio 2016, with the Averina twins taking over at the top.

15:35 Sakura Kokumai podcast!

The latest Olympic Channel podcast is up and it's a goodie.

Kata karate athlete Sakura Kokumai was confirmed as having made the sport's Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 this week at the end of the two-year-old qualification period in which she competed around the world.

She's gone straight from that into quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying, "I went from travelling non-stop for two years out of a suitcase to kind of being forced to being in one place."

Kokumai, 27, also speaks emotionally about the loss of her former 'Sensei' and how knowing that she is going to the Olympic Games is "the greatest feeling ever".

15:15 Enjoy Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the past

By popular demand, we're running back-to-back Opening and Closing Ceremonies from past Olympic Games on OlympicChannel.com.

Right now, it's the Parade of Nations from the Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony which ends with Cathy Freeman's iconic lighting of the Olympic Torch.

14:50 Fencer Harvey stays sharp, with the help of a mannequin

Training when consigned to home sometimes needs a fair bit of imagination.

Foil fencer Eleanor Harvey clearly has it in abundance with the Canadian, who stunned Arianna Errigo at Rio 2016, creating a practice opponent out of a mannequin, clothers and fencing gear.

14:15 Federer helps out

Roger Federer and his wife Mirka are donating one million Swiss francs to help vulnerable people in his homeland.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner and Beijing 2008 doubles gold medallist announced the move on his Instagram, and made a wish that "others might join in supporting more families in need".

He added, "Together we can overcome this crisis. Stay healthy!"

12:50 Aly Raisman gives Eugenie Bouchard top marks

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard could be in for a change of sports.

Olympic artistic gymnastics gold medallist Aly Raisman certainly thinks so!

Raisman was part of USA's "Final Five" gold medal team at Rio 2016, and you can enjoy the whole of that competition featuring Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas and Madison Kocian right here.

As for swapping sports, Olympic Channel has a whole series dedicated to that concept called 'Sports Swap'.

Check out what happened when Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Margarita Mamun teamed up with USA's three-time gold medal winning footballer Heather O'Reilly.

12:25 More workouts with children, and their toys

Manchester City and Belgium midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is another athlete using his children to assist him on "legday".

View this post on Instagram

Creative legday with the kids @lacroixmichele 😂

A post shared by Kevin De Bruyne (@kevindebruyne) on

Olympic pole vault champion Renaud Lavillenie has been training in his garden in the second week of quarantine measures in France.

He said, "When your daughter leaves her vehicles lying around the garden, you can do an exercise session without small hurdles."

Maybe she was having a nap at the time...

12:15 The wrong tattoo... or is it?

Paraguayan marathon runner Derlys Ayala bemoaned his choice of tattoo after yesterday's announcement that Tokyo 2020 would be postponed until next year.

But fear not, Derlys, the event is still called Tokyo 2020. So don't change it!

12:10 Start 'em young!

Here's another glorious workout to behold, Ukraine's RIo 2016 all-around bronze medallist Ganna Rizatdinova with her young son.

I love the way he gets involved, especially from the plank onwards.

News to bring you from London, the host city of the 2012 Olympic Games.

The ExCeL Centre, which hosted boxing, fencing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo, weightlifting and wrestling at London 2012, is being transformed into a temporary hospital to deal with COVID-19 cases.

It will have 4,000 beds and be known for now as the NHS Nightingale Hospital.

11:25 - Workouts for everyone!

The Black Panther of skeleton, Akwasi Frimpong, showed us his home workout this morning with a bit of help from his daughter!

You can check out a raft of ideas for workouts from athletes including world champion artistic gymnast Morgan Hurd, breaking star Bumblebee, and Olympic figure skaters Julian Yee and Mae Berenice Meite on our dedicated page here.

A reminder too that Pita Taufatofua, Tonga's Summer and Winter Olympian, will be live on Olympic Channel's Instagram in just over half an hour with his second daily workout.

Today, he's focusing on the upper body.

Speaking of workouts, check this out from a football legend of a somewhat older vintage.

Former Spurs and Wales winger Cliff Jones is 85 (EIGHTY-FIVE), and he's in great shape!

Those dumbells must be close to 85 themselves...

Jones won the league and cup double with Spurs in 1961.

10:45 - Hosszu posts tribute to granddad

Plenty of athletes still reacting to the news that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be delayed until next year including swimming's 'Iron Lady', Katinka Hosszu.

The Hungarian posted one of her favourite photos with her grandfather, who taught her how to swim, wearing her four medals from Rio 2016.

10:30 - Tennis stars at home

Two superstars from the world of tennis have been showing us what they've been getting up to at home.

Novak Djokovic, who would dearly love an Olympic gold medal to add to his collection, has been keeping his two children entertained.

Would he be Hook to Roger Federer's ageless Peter Pan?

Djokovic's great rival Rafa Nadal has been serving up something in the kitchen for himself and his wife.

He's promised to let us know what dish he was making... maybe a tortilla or some sort of sauce?

Morning all, welcome to a new day of updates from around the world. Get involved and send us some inspiration on our social media handles @olympicchannel.

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