Stiff Competition Not a Problem for Marsh, Johnson in Swiss Meet

Americans Mike Marsh and Michael Johnson defeated star-studded fields Wednesday in winning sprints at the Athletissima Grand Prix track meet in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Marsh, the 1992 Olympic 200-meter gold-medal winner, surged in the final strides to win the 100 in a slightly wind-aided 9.96 seconds. Donovan Bailey of Canada was second in 10.02 and American Dennis Mitchell was third in 10.03.

Johnson, the winner of the 200 and 400 at the U.S. national championships last month, won the 200 in a wind-aided 19.96 seconds over a field that included 1993 world 200 champion Frankie Fredericks, Linford Christie and Carl Lewis.

In other events, Americans Roger Kingdom won the 110 hurdles in 13.11, and Darnell Hall won the 400 in 44.34. Merlene Ottey of Jamaica won the women’s 100 in 10.92, the fastest legal time of the year. She also won the 200 in 22.07, just beating Gwen Torrence.

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Daniela Bartova improved her own pole vault record, clearing 13 feet 7 1/4 inches at the Czech Republic national championships in Ostrava, the news agency CTK reported.

Jurisprudence

A cousin of Seattle Seahawk wide receiver Brian Blades was shot to death at the player’s home in Plantation, Fla., and Blades was believed to have been in the same room of the condominium at the time, police said.

Paramedics pronounced Charles Blades, 24, of Opa-locka, Fla., dead of a gunshot wound from a pistol shortly after police received a report of a shooting at 12:39 a.m. Thursday. Police spokesman Mike Price said authorities have “pretty much ruled out suicide.”

Detectives hoped to interview Brian Blades later today to get more details, Price said.

Jarrett Reid, a sixth-round draft choice of the Hartford Whalers in 1992, was acquitted of sexual assault after a two-week trial in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada.

Reid, who played eight games last season with Springfield of the American Hockey League, still faces another trial, to begin Sept. 5, on 20 charges lodged in a different complaint.

Golf

Liselotte Neumann, the second-ranked LPGA golfer last year, has received threats and played a one-day tournament this week in Stockholm with two police officers assigned to protect her, according to a published report.

Neumann has had police protection since being threatened by a 35-year-old man over a period of several years, the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported. The man has sent threatening letters and made obscene phone calls, it said.

Miscellany

Roberto Baggio, soccer’s world player of the year in 1993, left Juventus of Turin and signed a three-year contract with AC Milan, which will pay a transfer fee of about $12.5 million to Juventus.

A memorial service will be held Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Rose church in Roseville for Earlene McCabe, retired member of the California Horse Racing Board who died Sunday at 65.

HBO sports, making a second effort within 10 years to produce a universally acknowledged world heavyweight boxing champion, is negotiating with eight fighters for a big-money tournament to start in October.

The cable television network, which lost out to rival Showtime in the bidding for Mike Tyson’s comeback bout, would bring together Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, Michael Moorer, Evander Holyfield, Herbie Hide, Ray Mercer and Tommy Morrison.

All are current or former champions of the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Assn., International Boxing Federation or World Boxing Organization and none are under contract to promoter Don King.

San Jose has been recommended from among nearly two dozen cities as host for the 1999 women’s basketball Final Four and Philadelphia has been recommended for 2000. The NCAA Executive Committee will be asked to approve the recommendations at its regularly scheduled meeting Aug. 2-4.

The Buffalo Stampede, defending champion of Roller Hockey International, has filed for bankruptcy and may fold at mid-season. RHI chairman Larry King has been negotiating with new investors in the hopes of saving the team.

Patrick Ewing and Charles Smith, teammates with the New York Knicks, sat in a hearing room in New York representing opposing sides in the battle over the fate of the NBA players’ union.

The players attended a National Labor Relations Board hearing on whether an election should be held to decertify the union. Ewing is one of the players leading the decertification effort, and Smith is the first vice president of the players’ association.

NLRB regional director Dan Silverman is to rule within two weeks on whether an election should be held.