Samaranch Defends Accepting Firearms

International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch said he did nothing wrong by accepting firearms worth more than $2,000 as gifts during Salt Lake City’s winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games, adding that he is routinely presented with gifts during his travels.

Samaranch also said he is not covered by IOC restriction on gifts because he doesn’t vote in the election of host cities.

He vowed to stay in office through the end of his term in 2001 and reiterated his promise to clean up the IOC and expel any members found guilty of corruption.

So far, two rifles and a shotgun, all made by Browning Arms of Mountain Green, Utah, have been identified as going to Samaranch, and there also may have been a handgun given to him.

“Every time I travel I get gifts,” Samaranch said. “Of course Utah, Salt Lake City, is a state where guns are very popular. I have visited Salt Lake City twice and I got a gun both times. I took it to Switzerland.”

Refusing the guns “would have been a real insult,” he said.

“I see no problem whatsoever since the important gifts I get will be placed in the Olympic Museum,” he said at a news conference. “These weapons--these two guns--are in the Olympic museum.”

In a separate interview in the Tribune de Geneve newspaper, Samaranch said the guns were in his office in Lausanne, Switzerland.

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Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, promised not to stage the World Cup in the same year as the Summer Olympics, avoiding a multimillion-dollar conflict between the world’s two biggest sports events. . . . Chinese sports officials have approved a new bid by Beijing to host the 2008 Summer Games.

Skiing

Jure Kosir of Slovenia won a men’s World Cup slalom on the same hill in Kranjska Gora that he trained on as a youngster.

Kosir, who hadn’t won a race since 1993--his only career victory--put in a solid first run to finish nearly half a second ahead of the runner-up, Thomas Stangassinger of Austria.

Cary Mullen, one of Canada’s top downhillers before enduring a rash of injuries, has decided not to return to the World Cup circuit this season because of a concussion suffered during a December fall at Val d’Isere, France.

Tennis

It was a bad day for former French Open champions playing in Australia. Michael Chang, Gustavo Kuerten and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario all were upset losers in tune-up tournaments for the Australian Open.

Chang, the 1989 French men’s champion, lost to Scott Draper of Australia, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), in the second round of the Australian Hardcourt championships in Adelaide, where another Australian, Michael Tebbutt, beat Kuerten, the 1997 winner in Paris, 6-7 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-3).

In Perth, world junior champion Jelena Dokic of Australia defeated Sanchez-Vicario, the women’s champion at the 1989 and ’98 French Opens, 6-3, 6-2, in the Hopman Cup. That, coupled with Mark Philippoussis’ 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) victory and a walkover in mixed doubles when a flu-ridden Carlos Moya withdrew, gave Australia a 3-0 victory over Spain.

In another Hopman Cup match, Martina Hingis sent a warning to No. 1 Lindsay Davenport that she’s ready to regain her top ranking with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 victory as Switzerland took a 1-0 lead over the United States.

Baseball

George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, has ended a celebrated 14-year falling out with Yogi Berra by apologizing to the former Yankee great, the New York Times reported.

Steinbrenner met Berra at the museum named for him at Montclair State University campus and apologized for how he fired him as manager 16 games into the 1985 season, the paper said.

The news of Berra’s dismissal was delivered by Clyde King, leading Berra to vow never to set foot in Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owned the team.

“I know I made a mistake by not letting you go personally,” Steinbrenner said to Berra, according to the Times. “It’s the worst mistake I ever made in baseball.”

The Dodgers signed 11 players to minor league contracts, including infielder Pete Rose Jr.

Reliever Paul Quantrill of the Toronto Blue Jays underwent surgery to repair a broken right leg suffered in a toboggan accident Tuesday night near his home in Port Hope, Canada, the team said.

Miscellany

After spending most of the last 14 months fighting a drug problem, Pernell Whitaker returns to the ring Feb. 20 at New York’s Madison Square Garden against undefeated International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Felix Trinidad.

The University of Alberta men’s volleyball team swept USC, 15-10, 15-12, 15-11, in the Trojans’ season opener.

Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. escaped injury when Chip Canyon, his mount in the fourth race at Santa Anita, broke down near the quarter pole. Chip Canyon was destroyed.