Chinese Swimmer Banned for Two Years

Lu Bin became the latest and most prominent name among China’s record-setting female swimmers to be suspended for drug use. Lu, who won three gold medals at the World Championships and four at the Asian Games, was banned for two years Wednesday for using performance-enhancing substances.

The international swimming federation FINA said Lu tested positive for dehydrotestosterone in a random out-of-competition sampling on Sept. 30. Yang Aihua, the world 400-meter freestyle champion, tested positive for testosterone and was recently suspended for two years. Both will miss the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Jurisprudence

Reggie Baul, a receiver on the Nebraska football team, was ordered to pay $124 in fines and court costs in Lincoln after pleading no contest to theft.

An Italian sports apparel firm is suing Monica Seles, saying she reneged on a contract to promote a line of clothing after she was stabbed by a fan last year. FILA said that while Seles remained out of tennis, it has lost more than $6 million from the deal signed when she was the No. 1-ranked female tennis player.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, testified in a Lausanne, Switzerland, court that two British journalists libeled him by misrepresenting his past in Franco’s Spain and his leadership of the Olympic movement.

Fresno State fullback Chris Burk was ordered to stand trial on a charge of biting off part of a man’s lip. . . . Tom McCarthy, who played for the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins in the 1980s, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute marijuana.

Miscellany

A meeting with Tyrone Willingham, who coaches running backs for the Minnesota Vikings, apparently closed Stanford’s interviews with three finalists for head coach, the San Jose Mercury News reported. The others are Ron Turner, offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, and Stanford assistant head coach Terry Shea. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals traded second baseman Luis Alicea to the Boston Red Sox for two prospects.

Magnus Larsson upset Swedish Davis Cup teammate Stefan Edberg, 6-4, 6-7 (9-7), 8-6, in the opening round of the Grand Slam Cup at Munich, Germany. . . . American Bonnie Blair won the 500 meters and was second in the 1,000 at a World Cup speedskating meet in Obihiro, Japan.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson has rejected Colorado University President Judith Albino’s contention that race was not a consideration in choosing a white head football coach (Rick Neuheisel) over a black assistant (Bob Simmons). . . . Jean-Claude Tremblay, a star defenseman for the Montreal Canadiens in the 1960s, died in Montreal after a long battle with kidney cancer. He was 55.

University of Idaho President Elisabeth Zinser says the school will not join the Big West Conference in 1996 because the football team did not draw well enough this season to make the jump to the NCAA’s Division I-A. . . . Clemson’s I.M. Ibrahim, whose soccer teams won two national titles, resigned after 28 seasons. . . . A major winter storm deflated the roof of the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls, Iowa, sending University of Northern Iowa officials scrambling to find sites for the basketball team’s home games. . . . The U.S. soccer team will play Trinidad and Tobago on Friday and Honduras on Sunday at Cal State Fullerton.