Russian Pair Tunes Up for the Olympics

Olympic champions Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov became Russia’s pairs figure skating champions after winning a freestyle event Sunday at St. Petersburg, Russia.

Natalia Mishkutyonok and Artur Dmitriev won silver medals. Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were third.

Top-seeded Alexei Urmanov was the men’s champion, despite failing to land his quadruple jump.

Baseball

Former Phillie reliever Mitch Williams, known for walking opposing batters, returned to the Philadelphia area for a walk down the aisle.

The 29-year-old left-hander, traded to the Houston Astros on Dec. 2, was married to Irene Iacone, 23, of Cinnaminson, N.J., at Sacred Heart Church in Riverside, N.J.

Afterward, Williams and his roughly 190 guests headed to a reception at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Philadelphia.

It was Williams’ first public appearance in the city since he blew two late-inning leads in games that cost the Phillies the World Series, including a home run by Toronto’s Joe Carter in the ninth inning of Game 6.

Soccer

Roberto Baggio, the top player on the Italian team that finished first in its World Cup qualifying group, was voted European player of year.

Baggio, the first Italian to win the award since Paolo Rossi in 1982, received 142 points in voting conducted by France Football magazine.

Horse Racing

Thoroughbred trainer Jeff Lukas remained in a coma 11 days after being run down by a horse.

Lukas, also suffering from pneumonia, was in very critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital, family spokeswoman Judy Cumberland said.

Lukas, 36, suffered fractures at the base of his skull Dec. 15 when he was run down by a loose horse at Santa Anita.