IOC’s Pound Got Free Family Tree From Mormon Church

The International Olympic Committee official whose probe accused IOC members of pressuring Salt Lake City Winter Games organizers for gifts received a free family tree from the Mormon Church, the church said Thursday.

IOC Vice President Dick Pound, a Montreal-based lawyer, has headed an investigation that organizers gave cash, scholarships, medical care and other gifts to IOC members to win the right to host the 2002 Winter Games.

The Mormon Church said the family tree was given to Pound on a visit to the church’s headquarters in Salt Lake City in 1997.

The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday reported that Pound received the genealogical report and quoted experts as saying it can cost up to $50,000.

*

In other developments:

* Charlie Battle, a former leader of Atlanta’s bid for the 1996 Olympics, said that his group violated the IOC’s gift-giving rules in its pursuit of the Summer Games.

* Kelly Flint, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee attorney who was on the team that plied IOC members with cash and freebies, will remain on the job, SLOC President Mitt Romney decided.

* Former ski official Howard Peterson said Salt Lake City officials “robbed” U.S. winter sports athletes of $3 million in unkept promises.

Peterson, who stepped down as executive director of the U.S. Skiing Assn. in 1994, said none of the money pledged 10 years ago for training time, subsidized housing, work-study programs and tuition aid for American athletes had been paid.

He called for Utah authorities to come through with the money now to help get American athletes ready for 2002.

* Swedish officials said a former IOC member from Sudan, Zein El Abdin Ahmed Abdel Gadir, one of two expelled in the Olympic bribery scandal, was consistently drunk when he checked out Stockholm’s bid for the 2004 Games. A report that had been requested by the IOC said Gadir at one point got so offensive he was thrown out of a dinner party.

The report also singled out Lamine Keita of Mali for “behavior . . . not up to expectations.”

* Gian-Franco Kasper, president of the International Skiing Federation, called for more control for federations in choosing Olympic sites. “We don’t want to take over power, but we think it’s the only way to restore the credibility of the IOC,” he said.

* In Monte Carlo, a ruling of the General Assn. of International Sports Federations declared support for IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and called for “maintaining unity.”

Basketball

Rudy Tomjanovich of the Houston Rockets has been named coach of the U.S. Olympic team by USA Basketball. The team’s first competition will be the Americas Olympic qualifying tournament at San Juan, Puerto Rico, July 14-25, which will also include four teams from South America, three from Central America, one from Puerto Rico and the Canadian national team.

The Washington Mystics, the team with the worst record but the best attendance in the WNBA, have tapped Nancy Darsch as their new coach. . . . The WNBA will play its first all-star game in Madison Square Garden on July 14.

Pro Football

Dallas Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman had successful laser surgery to correct a vision problem and said he is looking forward to playing without contact lenses. . . . St. Louis Ram receiver Eddie Kennison, who has faltered since his rookie season in 1996, was traded to the New Orleans Saints for a second-round draft pick. . . . The Washington Redskins signed free agent safety Sam Shade to a four-year, $10.4-million contract with a $2.5-million signing bonus. Shade spent four seasons with Cincinnati. . . . The Minnesota Vikings re-signed free agent linebacker Ed McDaniel to a five-year deal. . . . The New England Patriots signed veteran punter Lee Johnson to a three-year, $2-million contract. . . . The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to terms with cornerback Carlton Gray on a five-year contract.

College Football

Kansas State received praise from the NCAA for its handling of violations involving running back Frank Murphy, and the NCAA Committee on Infractions accepted the school’s self-imposed penalties and added one sanction by extending for a year a two-year probation that the school was already serving for unrelated violations. Murphy, the top junior college prospect last year, accepted $200 in cash before enrolling at Kansas State and another $3,200 after enrolling to buy a used BMW.

David Cutcliffe, who was named coach at Mississippi on Dec. 2 and led the Rebels to a 35-18 victory over Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl, had his gall bladder removed.

Cal State Northridge announced it will play Kansas at Lawrence, Kan., Sept. 11.

Miscellany

Australian Mardi Lunn, whose golf victories have come in Europe and Asia, made a late charge to shoot a six-under-par 66 and take a one-shot first-round lead in the Hawaiian Ladies Open at Kapolei.

Steffi Graf and Venus Williams advanced in the Hanover WTA tournament in Germany. The third-seeded Graf, of Germany, beat Barbara Schett of Austria, 6-3, 6-2, ending the quarterfinal match with an ace. The second-seeded Williams posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over Japan’s Ai Sugiyama.

The 11th-ranked UCLA women’s gymnastics team will play host to Arizona, Cal State Fullerton and Florida in the UCLA Invitational Saturday at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.

Soccer

In the first trade between the Galaxy and one of Philip F. Anschutz’s two other Major League Soccer teams, the Galaxy acquired defender-midfielder Zak Ibsen from the Chicago Fire for a second-round choice in the 2001 college draft. Anschutz also owns the Colorado Rapids. . . . Lawrence Lozzano, Danny Pena and 19-year old Marvin Quijano each scored two goals as the Galaxy remained undefeated in exhibition play with an 8-1 victory over the Central Coast Roadrunners Wednesday night at San Luis Obispo.

Names in the News

Tennessee forward Chamique Holdsclaw was named winner of the Sullivan Award, which goes to the nation’s top amateur athlete. Holdsclaw was the first woman basketball player to win the award. . . . Bernie Hammerbeck, 78, former supervisor of officials for the Pacific Coast Conference in the 1960s and ‘70s, died Feb. 11 in Gualala, Calif. He was a longtime resident of South Pasadena. The PCC was the forerunner of the Pacific 10.