Lewis Ends His Track Career Victoriously in All-Star Relay

Carl Lewis ended his track and field career by anchoring an all-star 400-meter relay team to an easy victory in 38.24 seconds at the ISTAF Grand Prix meet Tuesday at Berlin.

Lewis ran the last leg on a team composed of Olympic 100-meter champion Donovan Bailey, former world-record holder Leroy Burrell and Namibian sprint champion Frankie Fredericks.

“It was a fantastic farewell,” said Lewis, who has won nine Olympic gold medals.

Bailey, who set the world 100-meter record in Atlanta last summer, ran the first leg, handing off to Burrell, who passed the baton to Fredericks. And on the final handoff, Fredericks gave Lewis a slight push in the back.

The crowd of nearly 60,000 fans gave Lewis a standing ovation. Lewis will run one more race, an exhibition with Burrell and other Santa Monica Track Club teammates at halftime of a college football game in Texas next month.

Earlier, Fredericks, Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and Gabriella Szabo of Romania shared the richest single prize in track, a 44-pound jackpot of gold, when they won their races.

Fredericks surged past Bailey in the final meters to win the 100 in 9.99 seconds. El Guerrouj pulled away from Daniel Komen of Kenya to win the mile in 3:45.64. And Szabo won the women’s 5,000 meters in 14:44.35.

The gold, worth $200,000, goes to athletes who win their events at all four of the Golden Four meets, in Oslo, Zurich, Brussels and Berlin.

Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia won the men’s 5,000 but failed in his attempt to reclaim the world record, which was set by Komen in Brussels on Friday with a time of 12:39.74.

Gebrselassie held off a strong challenge by Paul Koech of Kenya and pulled away with 200 meters left to win in 12:55.14.

Marion Jones of the United States, the new world champion, won the women’s 100 in 10.81. Merlene Ottey was second in 10.85, ahead of two-time Olympic champion Gail Devers.

Jon Drummond of the United States won the men’s 200 meters in 20.07, while Mark Crear took the 110-meter hurdles in 13.11.

World University Games

Olympic champion Balazs Kiss of Hungary won the hammer throw at Catania, Sicily. Kiss, a former USC star, won with a toss of 260 feet 7 inches. Vadim Kolesnik of Ukraine was second at 253-2. Nnenna Lynch of the United States won the women’s 5,000 meters in 15 minutes, 47.61 seconds, while Russia’s Ilia Markov won the men’s 20-kilometer walk.

In basketball, Eastern Michigan’s Earl Boykins scored 18 points as the United States beat South Korea, 94-64, for its 30th straight victory, and 100th overall, at the World University Games. Bidding for a fifth consecutive University Games gold medal, the U.S. (4-0) will face Italy (4-0), a 70-49 winner over Nigeria, in today’s semifinals.

U.S. swimmers won five medals, including golds by Suzanne Black, who won the 800 freestyle in 8 minutes 45.82 seconds, and the women’s 800-meter freestyle relay team.

Italy defeated the United States, 1-0, in a fight-marred soccer game to reach the championship game.

The games have been viewed by many as a measure of Italy’s ability to put on a major sports event. Rome is one of five finalists to host the 2004 Olympics, and the IOC will pick a site Sept. 5, five days after the Sicily event closes.

Jurisprudence

NBA rookie of the year Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers pleaded no contest to carrying a concealed weapon and was put on three years probation by a judge in New Kent, Va.

A marijuana possession charge was dropped in a plea agreement.

Iverson was a passenger in a car stopped Aug. 3 for speeding outside Richmond, Va. A search of the car, owned by Iverson, revealed a .45-caliber pistol belonging to him and two marijuana cigarettes.

Auto Racing

Roy “Buckshot” Jones, a regular on NASCAR’s Busch Grand National circuit, was fined $5,000 and penalized 50 championship points for several incidents at Friday night’s Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee.

Jones banged into the rear of Mike McLaughlin’s car, sending it into the wall. Then Jones was knocked into the wall by defending Busch Series champion Randy LaJoie.

Moments later, Jones tried to hit LaJoie’s car as it went by under caution, but missed and hit the wall again. He was able to drive the battered car back to the paddock, where NASCAR officials ordered him to remain off the track.

Miscellany

The Salt Lake Organizing Committee named Chairman Frank Joklik to replace former president and chief executive Tom Welch, who resigned last month after being charged with domestic violence.

The committee also voted to hire Welch as a $10,000-a-month consultant and give him $602,900 in deferred compensation if the 2002 Winter Games are financially successful.