U.S. Is Going for (‘76) Gold for Swimmers

Efforts to get gold medals for four American Olympic swimmers because of possible drug use by the East German team that beat them in 1976 will proceed despite initial rejection by a top IOC official.

The U.S. Olympic Committee will pursue the medal change for the women’s 400-meter medley relay team from the Montreal Games once it receives a written report from a German court case, USOC President Bill Hybl said Wednesday.

Hybl said the committee will not be deterred by comments in Sydney, Australia, by Jacques Rogge, an International Olympic Committee executive board member and a front-runner to be the IOC’s next president.

Rogge, head of the IOC coordination commission for the 2000 Games in Sydney, said the international committee was opposed to retroactive action on suspected drug users.

But Hybl said he was prepared to ask IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch for gold medals for Linda Jezek, Lauri Siering, Camile Wright and Shirley Babashoff, based upon comments by Samaranch and IOC general secretary Francois Carrard.

Jezek, Siering, Wright and Babashoff lost by 6.6 seconds to the East German team.

Tennis

Anna Kournikova double-faulted 20 times and was upset by Silvia Farina of Italy, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-1, in the Kremlin Cup at Moscow and heard angry whistles from her hometown fans.

In other matches, Chanda Rubin upset eighth-seeded Irina Spirlea of Romania, 6-2, 6-3, and fifth-seeded Mary Pierce of France beat Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Pete Sampras, the world’s top-ranked player, struggled before beating Todd Martin, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4, in the first round of the $750,000 Lyon Grand Prix in France. Patrick Rafter of Australia and Marcelo Rios of Chile, No. 2 and No. 3 in the world rankings, won in straight sets. Rios beat Jeff Tarango, 6-3, 6-3, and Rafter defeated Hicham Arazi of Morocco, 6-3, 6-3.

Second-seeded Andre Agassi beat Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the Czech Indoor tournament at Ostrava. In another match, third-seeded Karol Kucera of Slovakia defeated Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, 4-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

Jurisprudence

Mike Tyson should know by the end of the week whether he will have to go on trial Dec. 1 for allegedly assaulting two people in Montgomery County, Md.

“If there’s a way to resolve the case short of going to trial and it’s fair, I’m interested in exploring it,” State’s Attorney Robert Dean said, adding that he is considering asking the judge to postpone the case.

NBA free agent Greg Anderson faces sentencing Feb. 9 on a federal cocaine charge. He pleaded guilty in Biloxi, Miss., to one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Last season Anderson was with the Atlanta Hawks, backing up Dikembe Mutombo.

Former Canadian hockey coach Graham James was granted day parole almost two years after he was convicted of sexually assaulting former players. He is being moved to a Montreal halfway house where he must stay every night, a spokeswoman for Canada’s National Parole Board said. James, who was convicted in January 1997 of assaulting former Boston Bruin Sheldon Kennedy and at least two other junior players, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

Skiing

Katja Seizinger of Germany, who dominated the women’s World Cup tour last season, will be sidelined at least two months this season because of torn tendons and a serious knee injury suffered in June.

Julie Parisien, once the world’s top women’s slalom skier, is retiring again. Parisien, 27, came out of retirement from World Cup competition last year and competed in her third Olympics. She first retired after the 1994 season, but then turned pro and dominated the women’s tour in 1996 and 1997.

Names in the News

Jim Brewer, who spent the last four seasons as an assistant with the Clippers, interviewed for the team’s head coaching position on Wednesday. Brewer, along with Chris Ford and Eddie Jordan, who interviewed for the job earlier this week, are believed to be the finalists to replace Bill Fitch, who was fired at the end of last season.

Masters and British Open champion Mark O’Meara has won the PGA of America player-of-the-year award, beating David Duval, winner of four tournaments this year.

Wendell Scott, the only black driver to win a NASCAR race, is among the five 1999 inductees into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame. The class also includes the first woman tapped for the racing hall. Scott, whose victory was in 1963, was selected along with Louise Smith, an 82-year-old pioneer of the stock car circuit; two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock, crew chief and car builder Harry Hyde and Formula I star Alain Prost.

Pepperdine baseball Coach Frank Cruz, 45, has returned to work nine weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a benign brain tumor.

Miscellany

The NCAA Division I Management Council, meeting in Indianapolis, has approved measures that could allow member schools to add one basketball game to their regular-season schedules and add a 12th regular-season game in football starting with the 2002 season.

Rookie goaltender Trevor Koenig stopped 27 of 29 shots in his International Hockey League debut to give the Long Beach Ice Dogs a 4-2 win over the Michigan K-Wings at Kalamazoo. Andy Roach, Pavel Rosa, Jason Morgan and Sasha Molin scored for the Ice Dogs.