High Jump Record-Holder Sotomayor Banned for Drugs

Cuban high jump champion Javier Sotomayor was stripped of his gold medal at the Pan American Games on Wednesday after testing positive for cocaine in Winnipeg, Canada.

Sotomayor, the world-record holder and the only man to clear eight feet in the event, will be suspended for two years--knocking him out of this month’s world championships and the 2000 Sydney Olympics, said Primo Nebiolo, president of the International Amateur Athletic Assn., track and field’s governing body.

It is up to the Cuban federation to suspend Sotomayor. But Nebiolo said that if the Cubans do not suspend him for two years, the IAAF will.

“I am shocked. I cannot believe it. I am very surprised and upset, because I have great esteem for Sotomayor,” Nebiolo said from Monte Carlo.

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British sprinter Linford Christie, the 1992 Olympic 100-meter champion who at 39 rarely competes, was suspended for suspicion of use of the steroid nandrolone.

The IAAF said a drug test taken during a February meet at Dortmund, Germany, suggested the presence of the steroid but also said Christie’s sample is not regarded as a positive test.

“We cannot conclude the Christie case has been proved,” IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said.

If it is, Christie, who coaches British sprinters, will receive at least a two-year suspension retroactive to the day after the drug test.

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Marion Jones won the 200 meters in 22.15 seconds at the Herculis track and field meet in Monte Carlo, to remain in contention for the $1-million Golden League jackpot.

Wilson Kipketer, Gabriela Szabo and Bernard Barmasai also won to stay in contention for the end-of-the-season prize for winning all seven races in the series. Kipketer won the 800 meters in 1 minute 42.57 seconds, Szabo won the 3,000 meters in 8:28.36 and Barmasai won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 7:58.99.

In a quick 200-meter race, Maurice Greene clocked his fastest time of the year, 19.92, to hold off a challenge from Namibian Frankie Fredericks, who was one hundredth of a second behind.

Pan American Games

At Winnipeg, Canada: Mexico’s Alvaro Ortiz scored twice in the first 19 minutes of a 4-0 victory over the United States in a men’s soccer semifinal. . . . In tennis, Alexandra Stevenson lost in the semifinals to Maria Vento of Venezuela, 6-0, 6-3. Tara Snyder of Houston moved into the gold-medal match when she beat Mariana Diaz-Oliva of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2. The doubles team of twins Mike and Bob Bryan of Camarillo lost to Marco Osorio Salinas and Oscar Ortiz of Mexico, 6-4, 6-4. . . . Jenny Pavley of Agoura Hills and Marsha Miller of Los Angeles fell in the gold-medal beach volleyball match to Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede of Brazil, the world’s top team, 12-5, 12-0. . . . Bantamweight Gerald Tucker of Cincinnati stunned Cuba’s Waldemar Font, 8-7, in the boxing semifinals. Font was the first Cuban boxer to lose.

WNBA

Yolanda Griffith had 21 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Sacramento Monarchs beat Charlotte, 68-62, and ended the Sting’s franchise-record winning streak at six games before 7,193. . . . Taj McWilliams scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Orlando Miracle defeated the Cleveland Rockers, 70-62, before 9,099 at Orlando, Fla. . . . Sandy Brondello scored 21 points and Val Whiting had 12 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Detroit Shock to a 59-56 victory over the Minnesota Lynx before 8,253 at Auburn Hills, Mich.

College Football

USC receiver R. Jay Soward showed up for only a few of the Trojans’ summer workouts. Though they are officially voluntary under NCAA rules, players are expected to attend.

“I’m disappointed, very disappointed,” Coach Paul Hackett said. “[But] R. Jay has a way of preparing himself his own way. He’ll be ready. I think he’ll be effective.

“The football team knows R. Jay loves the game and has a lot of enthusiasm. I don’t think they pay a lot of attention.”

Miscellany

Jason Kreis and John Jairo Trellez scored as the Dallas Burn defeated the New York-New Jersey MetroStars, 2-0, in a Major League Soccer game before 7,622 in Dallas. . . . The Vancouver Canucks signed King free-agent defenseman Doug Bodger to a reported one-year contract. . . . The Tampa Bay Lightning traded left wing Niklas Sundstrom to the San Jose Sharks along with a third-round draft pick for defensemen Andrei Zyuzin and Bill Houlder and left wings Shawn Burr and Steve Guolla. . . . CART driver Christian Fittipaldi probably will be sidelined for at least eight weeks after crashing during testing earlier this week in St. Louis, a team official said. Fittipaldi, 28, suffered a subdural hematoma, a condition that causes blood to pool near the surface of the brain.