John Cook, trying to make up for...

John Cook, trying to make up for a miserable year at a tournament he won in 1992, shot an eight-under-par 64 and shared the second-round lead of the Las Vegas Invitational with Bob Tway.

Cook and Tway were at 13 under. Billy Mayfair, Mark Brooks and Curt Byrum were a stroke back.

Olympics

Drug testing at next summer’s Olympics could include a procedure to detect the human growth hormone, long considered a performance-enhancing drug used by track athletes and weightlifters.

The New York Times reported that a Swiss medical team has developed a reliable test to detect the hormone. It could be validated by the International Olympic Committee in time for the Atlanta Games.

Carl Lewis deserves special treatment in the scheduling of events at the 1996 Olympics, the head of track and field’s world governing body said.

“It is normal that sometimes something special should be done for a great athlete, especially a great athlete who has written some of the pages in athletic history,” said Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

However, Nebiolo stopped short of saying that the timetable would be changed in order to benefit the eight-time Olympic gold medalist.

Joe Douglas, manager of Lewis’ Santa Monica Track Club, sent a letter to the IAAF this week asking that the Atlanta schedule be altered so that Lewis could compete in the 100 meters, 200 meters and long jump.

Miscellany

“Burnie,” the Miami Heat mascot convicted of aggravated assault for dragging a woman onto the court during an exhibition game last year, now faces a $1 million lawsuit stemming from the incident.

Yvonne Gil-Rebollo filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court in San Juan against the team and Wes Lockard, the man inside the Burnie costume for allegedly dragging her from her seat and onto the court against her will.

Martina Navratilova spoke out in Portland, Me., against an anti-gay-rights measure on next month’s state ballot, saying it’s easier to mobilize voter opposition before the referendum than to fight the measure in the courts.

Navratilova said the Maine ballot question, like one approved three years ago in her home state of Colorado, is designed to send the message that “it’s OK to discriminate against gay men and lesbians.”