Report Says Skater Stojko Still Subsidized by Canada

Canada’s three-time world figure skating champion, Elvis Stojko, with an income estimated at $500,000 (Canadian) a year, reportedly still collects a monthly Canadian federal subsidy meant to assist less fortunate Olympic or former Olympic athletes.

The Ottawa Citizen reported Thursday that Stojko, who has 10 corporate sponsorship deals, is still eligible for $810 a month under Sport Canada’s assistance program.

Besides the $9,720 he gets each year from Sport Canada, Stojko receives $2,280 in grants from the Canadian Figure Skating Federation. He earned nearly $170,000 in prize money last year.

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The Finnish capital of Helsinki plans to ask the Norwegian town of Lillehammer, host of the 1994 Winter Olympics, to join it in a bid for the 2006 Winter Games.

“We’ve decided to see if we can find a partner with mountains where the Alpine [skiing] events can be held, and we will first negotiate with Lillehammer,” said Jouko Purontakanen, secretary general of the Finnish Olympic Committee.

The cities are about 500 miles apart.

If successful in its bid, Helsinki will become the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games. It had the Summer Olympics in 1952.

Jurisprudence

Sportscaster Marv Albert’s bid to have a sodomy indictment against him dismissed as too vague was rejected. Circuit Judge Benjamin N.A. Kendrick denied the request without explanation in Arlington, Va.

A former topless dancer sentenced to jail for falsely accusing two Dallas Cowboys of rape may be deported to her native Iran after she is released from jail.

Nina Shahravan, who recanted accusations against Michael Irvin and Erik Williams in December, pleaded guilty to perjury and was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Shahravan will be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service when she completes the jail term, officials said.

Fresno State basketball player Rafer Alston pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor battery charges stemming from an alleged attack on his former girlfriend.

Alston is accused of punching Rachel Henderson and knocking her down Sept. 11. He is one of three Fresno State athletes under scrutiny for allegedly abusing women.

The others are running back Michael Pittman, charged with assaulting his former girlfriend, and recent basketball recruit Courtney Alexander, convicted of beating his fiancee.

Soccer

Ghana and Brazil won semifinal matches in Cairo and will meet for the title in the under-17 World Cup, as they did in 1995.

Ghana defeated Spain, 2-1, and Brazil beat Germany, 4-0.

Meanwhile, Spanish Coach Juan Santisteban charged Ghana with using players older than 17.

“I can recognize at least eight of them who were members of the Ghanaian U-17 team in the 1991 World Cup, which would make them 23 now,” Santisteban said.

Sam George scored on a rebound in the 89th minute to give the Tampa Bay Mutiny a 2-1 Major League Soccer victory over the Columbus Crew before a season-low crowd of 6,983 at Tampa, Fla.

Tennis

Kimberly Po, one game away from elimination, stepped up her game and advanced to the Toyota Princess Cup quarterfinals in Tokyo with a 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory over Japan’s Rika Hiraki.

Japan also lost its first-round giant-killer, Shinobu Asagoe, ranked 259th, who upset American Chanda Rubin and made headlines across the nation. Second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario needed only 50 minutes to beat Asagoe, 6-0, 6-0.

Miscellany

Cuba won its seventh consecutive regional championship in women’s volleyball, defeating the United States, 15-4, 15-10, 13-15, 15-8, at Caguas, Puerto Rico, to qualify for World Cup.

Belmont Stakes winner Touch Gold will have only three challengers Saturday in the $1-million Buick Pegasus Handicap at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Gusty winds whipped sand into low dunes at Black Rock Desert in Nevada, preventing attempts at the world land-speed record by American and British teams.

Basketball player Lamar Odom has registered at the University of Rhode Island as a non-degree student. A high school All-American last season, Odom is not eligible to receive financial aid nor practice with the basketball team, coached by Jim Harrick.

Thomas Brennan, athletic director at San Jose State, was named to the same position at La Salle.