Jansen Decides to Put His Career on Ice

Dan Jansen, having finally won an Olympic gold medal and busy with endorsements and a new career as a television commentator, announced his retirement from speedskating Wednesday.

“I have accomplished all that I can in my sport,” Jansen said in a news release from U.S. Speedskating in Milwaukee. “I will miss it, especially the competition, but I am looking forward to spending more time with my family.”

Jansen, 29, won a gold medal in the 1,000 meters at Lillehammer, Norway, in February, ending his Olympic frustration.

At the 1988 Games in Calgary, he fell twice after his sister, Jane Jansen Beres, died of leukemia hours before his first race. Despite great success in international competition, he failed to win a medal in Albertville, France, in 1992.

Jansen slipped during his 500-meter race at Lillehammer and finished out of medal contention. Five days later, he won the 1,000, his last Olympic race, in world-record time.

He won the overall gold in March at the speedskating World Cup in the Netherlands.

Jansen joined CBS in June, reporting on winter-related sports for the network’s weekend series “Eye on Sports.” He will be a reporter for the network’s coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Tennis

Pete Sampras, planning to tune up his game in preparation for defending his singles title at the U.S. Open, withdrew from doubles play at the Hamlet Cup in Commack, N.Y., because of continuing pain in his left ankle.

Sampras, the world’s top-ranked player, said he still plans to defend his title even though he hasn’t played since the Davis Cup in mid-July. He has pulled out of events in Washington, Toronto, Cincinnati and Indianapolis before taking a doubles wild-card entry with Richey Reneberg.

Carlos Costa of Spain, seeded No. 2, lost, 6-1, 6-4, to Jan Apell of Sweden in the second round of the OTB International Open at Schenectady, N.Y.

Apell is ranked 91st in the world. Costa is ranked 19th. In another upset, Jacco Eltingh of the Netherlands posted a 6-3, 6-7 (6-3), 6-1 victory over seventh-seeded Andrei Chesnokov of Russia.

Auto Racing

Kenny Wallace was called on to fill in for injured Winston Cup driver Ernie Irvan, who continues to improve from severe head and lung injuries suffered in a crash last weekend.

Wallace, 31, who has raced in two Winston Cup events this year, will be behind the wheel of the No. 28 Ford Thunderbird Saturday night at Bristol, Tenn.

Meanwhile, Irvan continued to show signs of regained consciousness, responding to questions and requests from the medical staff, his doctor said.

Irvan, 35, who was listed in critical but stable condition, remains on a ventilator to aid breathing. But he has progressed since Saturday, when his car slammed into a wall during practice for the Goodwrench Dealers 400 at Brooklyn, Mich.

Michael Andretti was knocked unconscious briefly after crashing his Ford Cosworth-powered Reynard during an Indy car test session at Nazareth, Pa., Speedway.

Andretti sustained a concussion but had no other apparent injuries. Dr. Jeffrey Goldstein, who treated the driver at the track’s infield care center, said Andretti was initially disoriented after regaining consciousness.

Hockey

Mario Lemieux is expected to make official in a few days what the Pittsburgh Penguins have known for weeks--he’s not going to play hockey this season.

While Lemieux isn’t ready to announce his retirement--he will take a fully paid, $3-million sabbatical during the 1994-95 season--some Penguin officials are privately wondering if he will ever play hockey again.

Lemieux is expected to announce at a news conference Monday that he will spend this winter rehabilitating from the anemia he developed as an aftereffect of Hodgkin’s disease, which was diagnosed in January 1993.

Viktor Kozlov might have a chance to play side by side with his boyhood heroes, wing Sergei Makarov and center Igor Larionov of the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks signed Kozlov, 19, to a four-year deal worth $3.45 million. The signing came more than a year after the team drafted Kozlov sixth overall in the 1993 draft.

Names in the News

Nick Price, playing with 12 stitches in his back after minor surgery last week to remove some cancerous moles, shot a six-under-par 64 in the pro-am leading to today’s first round of the World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio.

Price, whose career year has led him to the top of the world rankings, had the surgery Aug. 15 in his doctor’s office, the day after winning the PGA Championship.

Miscellany

A female Chinese swimmer tested positive for drug use, and has been banned from competition for two years and stripped of her three Goodwill Games gold medals, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Ren Xin was one of three Chinese swimmers tested. The results showed a higher than normal ratio of testosterone and epitestosterone in her urine, the report said.

Laker guard Doug Christie underwent surgery on his left ankle to remove calcium deposits. His recovery is expected to be eight to 12 weeks.