Another of Ma’s Runners Shatters a World Record

Another member of “Ma’s Army” has broken the women’s 5,000-meter world record, leading again to speculation about drug use by Chinese athletes.

At the same time, a Chinese woman weightlifter was stripped of a bronze medal at the National Games at Shanghai after testing positive for a banned substance, and a Chinese man broke a weightlifting record that the world governing body said it would not recognize because of concerns over athlete supervision.

Jiang Bo, coached by Ma Junren, was timed in 14 minutes 28.09 seconds, three seconds faster than the record set two days earlier by teammate Dong Yanmei, also coached by Junren. Dong was second in 14:29.82, also beating her previous mark.

Zhang Xiaoli, who lifted 621 1/2 pounds in the 182-pound class, was stripped of her medal under the rules of the International Weightlifting Federation.

Tennis

Richard Krajicek is turning into Pete Sampras’ nemesis.

Krajicek swept past Sampras, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals of the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany.

“He played some big tennis and he served huge,” said Sampras, who has won 10 Grand Slam titles but is 2-4 against Krajicek.

They had not met since the 1996 Wimbledon quarterfinals, when Krajicek ended Sampras’ run of three consecutive titles and went on to win his only Grand Slam tournament championship.

College Basketball

USC Coach Henry Bibby has denied published reports that he was contacted over the weekend by Michigan Athletic Director Tom Goss to replace Steve Fisher, who was fired last week.

“My entire focus is on coaching at USC and getting our team ready for the season,” Bibby said.

The Ann Arbor News reported that Goss also met with Pepperdine Coach Lorenzo Romar but Romar denied that any such meeting took place.

A supporter of Cincinnati’s basketball program did favors for forward Ruben Patterson that probably would be considered violations of NCAA rules, the school said.

Athletic Director Bob Goin acknowledged that “extra benefits” given to Patterson included free lodging in a suburban condo provided by a former employer who also co-signed a car loan.

Boxing

The World Boxing Assn. welterweight title fight between Ike Quartey and Jose Luis Lopez last Friday night at Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn., was declared a draw after an error was found on the official score sheet.

Quartey will keep the title, although his record will read 34-0-1. The decision adds another draw to Lopez’s record, making it 39-3-2.

Quartey was originally announced as the winner on scores of 115-114 by judge Phillippe Verbek, 116-112 by judge Ricardo Duncan and 113-113 by judge Will Hutt.

A review of the scorecards showed that Verbek’s actually read 114-114, making the official decision a majority draw. The scorecards were given to Connecticut Boxing Commissioner John Burns for the official tabulation.

Olympic welterweight gold medalist Oleg Saitov of Russia defeated three-time defending world champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist Juan Hernandez Sierra of Cuba, 5-4, in the semifinals of the World Amateur Boxing Championships at Budapest, Hungary.

Jurisprudence

The threat of a manslaughter conviction has been lifted for wide receiver Brian Blades of the Seattle Seahawks. A Florida appeals court decided to uphold his acquittal in his cousin’s shooting death. The court backed the decision to reverse a guilty verdict and toss the case out, ruling there wasn’t enough evidence for a conviction. . . . An appeal hearing for defensive end Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills on a drunk-driving conviction was postponed after prosecutors in Virginia Beach, Va., said neither side was ready to proceed. The appeal now is scheduled to be heard Jan. 8.

James Harris, a former defensive end for the St. Louis Rams, was freed after the federal judge handling the drug conspiracy case against him threw out the charges, saying that the evidence presented by the government did not prove that Harris was linked to a cocaine deal in East St. Louis, Ill. . . . A drunk-driving charge against former New York Yankee pitcher Steve Howe was dropped after prosecutors in Kalispell, Mont., decided his blood test was improperly obtained.