Olajuwon on Olympic Top 10 List?

Hakeem Olajuwon of the NBA champion Houston Rockets heads the list of 10 players extended invitations to compete for the U.S. basketball team in the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

Several sources involved in the selection process confirmed to the newspaper that the core of the team that will represent the country in Atlanta has been selected.

In addition to Olajuwon, other centers on “Dream Team III” could include Orlando’s Shaquille O’Neal and San Antonio’s David Robinson.

Forwards invited were Utah’s Karl Malone, Detroit’s Grant Hill, Chicago’s Scottie Pippen and Milwaukee’s Glenn Robinson.

Guards invited were Indiana’s Reggie Miller, Orlando’s Anfernee Hardaway and Utah’s John Stockton, according to the report.

The final two spots on the roster have been left open to give the selection committee flexibility.

The official announcement will be made in late July.

Tennis

French Open champion Thomas Muster won his 40th consecutive clay-court match, defeating Czech Bohdan Ulihrach, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in the final of a $375,000 ATP tournament in St. Poelten, Austria. . . . Marc Rosset survived four match points to defeat Michael Stich, 3-6, 7-6 (13-11), 7-6 (10-8), in the final of the $725,000 ATP tournament at Halle, Germany.

Hockey

In a lingering dispute from the NHL lockout, an arbitration hearing today will determine Mighty Duck forward Garry Valk’s salary for last season. The NHL halted arbitration last fall as part of its stance in the labor dispute, then postponed all hearings until after the season. Valk was paid last season as if he were playing out his $300,000 option year, meaning he hasn’t gotten the raise he expected after scoring a career-high 45 points in the Ducks’ first season. This season, he had three goals in 36 games, missing 10 games at the start of the season because of a knee injury. But arbitrator Richard Bloch isn’t supposed to consider anything that happened this season.

Miscellany

Jonathan Edwards recorded the longest triple jump under any conditions at the European Cup in Villeneuve D’Ascq, France. Edwards, a bronze medalist at the 1993 world championships, went 60 feet, 5 3/4 inches with a wind of 2.4 meters per second, just above the legal limit of 2.0 m.p.s., surpassing Willie Banks’ 59-8 1/2 with a wind of 5.2 m.p.s in 1988.

Kostya Tszyu successfully defended his International Boxing Federation junior welterweight title with a unanimous decision over American Roger Mayweather in Newcastle, Australia.

Former Cal State Northridge golfer Jeff Sanday beat John Pate of Santa Barbara for the California Golf Association Amateur Championship at Pebble Beach.

Karch Kiraly and Scott Ayakatubby defeated Adam Johnson and Jose Loiola, 11-8, to win the Miller Lite Open Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament in Chicago.

Stan Yocum of Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club won the last race to top the J-35 mid-size sailboat fleet in the Trimble/North Sails Race Week at Long Beach.