King Named Fed Cup Captain

Billie Jean King will return in 1998 as captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team.

King was captain of the U.S. team that won the Fed Cup title in 1996. Last year, Martina Navratilova was captain when the team was upset by the Netherlands.

Coincidentally, the United States will play the Netherlands in the first round April 18-19.

In making the announcement Wednesday in New York, the U.S. Tennis Assn. also said Tom Gullikson will continue as captain of the Davis Cup team.

Gullikson has been Davis Cup captain since 1993, and led the U.S. to the title in 1995. The Americans travel to Sweden next week for the 1997 final.

Motor Sports

Goodyear, the dominant tire name in Formula One auto racing for more than 30 years, said it would end the association after the 1998 season because of rising costs and new racing regulations.

Goodyear entered Formula One racing in 1965 and had a near-stranglehold on the racing circuit until Japanese tire maker Bridgestone entered last year and signed four Formula One teams.

The Akron, Ohio company supplies tires to all of Formula One’s top teams, including Williams Renault, Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton and Jordan. Williams won the world driver and team titles this season.

Those teams now will be expected to switch to Bridgestone for the 1999 season, although another company, Michelin, could be about to return to Formula One.

In a statement released in Wolverhampton, England, where Goodyear has offices that serve the Formula One circuit, the company said it would still commit resources to developing the new grooved tires being introduced next year, which officials say is a safety measure to slow speeds.

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Bill Elliott, 42, owner and driver of the McDonald’s Ford on the NASCAR circuit, underwent surgery in Birmingham, Ala., to remove plates and screws from his left hip. They were placed there in April 1996 after a crash at Talladega Superspeedway.

Olympics

After nine unsuccessful bids by one of the great winter sports nations, the Swedish Olympic Committee has turned down plans by the city of Ostersund to bid for the 2006 Winter Games.

In an unanimous vote, the committee said the northern Swedish city of 60,000 was no more competitive in its bid than the last time it tried for the Olympics. It also said it would be impossible to get enough public support in Sweden for another bid.

Ostersund and nearby Are, Scandinavia’s leading alpine ski resort, finished second in balloting for the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and third in the voting for the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan.

Names in the News

Former basketball star Ralph Sampson pleaded guilty in Stafford, Va., to driving with a suspended license and was fined $100. Sampson was the NBA rookie of the year in 1984.