Petrenko Wins European Title

Olympic champion Viktor Petrenko, skating to music from Verdi operas, won the men’s title for the third time Thursday night in the European Figure Skating Championships at Copenhagen.

On a night when his skating failed to measure up to his high standards, Petrenko nevertheless won a spot on the Ukrainian team for next month’s Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Norway.

Viacheslav Zagorodniuk of Ukraine was second and Russia’s Alexei Urmanov was third.

Halfway through the ice-dance competition, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain moved into a virtual tie with Maya Usova and Aleksandr Zhulin of Russia to set the stage for a winner-take-all free-dance final tonight.

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The Olympic flame that will burn at next month’s Winter Games left Athens en route to its final destination.

Hockey

Defenseman Jim Johnson of the Dallas Stars will be sidelined for three weeks by a neck injury he suffered when he was checked headfirst into the boards during Tuesday night’s 5-3 victory over the Kings.

Center Doug Gilmour of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the NHL’s No. 3 scorer, has a crack in a calcium deposit on his upper right arm, but the Maple Leafs said he is expected to play in Saturday’s All-Star game at New York.

Defenseman Rick Zombo of the St. Louis Blues was suspended for 10 games without pay for shoving a linesman in the back during a Jan. 9 game against Dallas.

Baseball

The Montreal Expos added another year to the contract of Manager Felipe Alou, who signed a long-term deal with the Expos in May, 1992. Under that agreement, Alou was to manage the Expos through 1994 and then remain with the team in another capacity.

Shortstop Omar Vizquel and the Cleveland Indians agreed on a one-year contract worth $2.3 million, more than double his 1993 salary of $1,112,500.

Bob Murphy, a New York Met television and radio announcer for the last 32 years, was chosen as 1994 recipient of the Ford C. Frick broadcasting award and will be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Michael Jordan, acknowledging that his improbable attempt to join the Chicago White Sox is viewed “as off the wall,” said his skills are improving, but that he is not yet ready for the major leagues.

Basketball

Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon after police noticed a handgun in his car.

Tod Leiweke, president of the Houston Rockets for only 4 1/2 months, quit to take a position with the Golden State Warriors. He will be president of a division of the team working to build a 21,500-seat sports and entertainment facility in the San Francisco area.

North Carolina guard Donald Williams, the most valuable player in the Final Four last year, has a badly bruised and slightly separated left shoulder and will not play for two to three weeks.

Miscellany

Dillard Pruitt shot an eight-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Northern Telecom Open at Tucson. CBS commentator Gary McCord was tied with Larry Nelson at 65. . . . Jonathan Sewell of England, who learned at 7:30 a.m. that he would be a last-minute substitute, shared the first-round lead at 68 with four other players in the Moroccan Open at Agadir.

The Rose Bowl, venue for the World Cup soccer final in July, was given a clean bill of health after Monday’s earthquake, organizers said. Also, organizers of the Los Angeles Marathon, scheduled for March 6, said the event would proceed as planned.

Matt Busby, one of the most successful and beloved soccer coaches in British history, died at 84. . . . Robert Lee Herron, former Negro League baseball star, died in Wichita Falls, Tex. He was 69.