Dan O’Brien Most Likely Out of Trials

Dan O’Brien, the defending Olympic champion in the decathlon and one of track and field’s biggest names over the last decade, said Tuesday he plans to withdraw from the U.S. Olympic trials in Sacramento and will miss the Sydney Games.

O’Brien, 34, said he partially tore connective tissue on the bottom of his left foot while practicing the high jump last Wednesday.

He said he wouldn’t formally withdraw until just before the competition begins.

“I’m 98, 99% out right now,” he said. “If for some reason a miracle were to happen, my prayers were answered and I woke up Thursday morning and felt like I could sprint, I would be out there giving a try.”

There were no events at the trials Tuesday and today.

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Olympic bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson rejected a government plea bargain for a second time, making their indictments in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic bribery scandal more likely.

The bid leaders have never denied they showered cash payments and favors on IOC members in their successful effort to win the 2002 Winter Games, but they insist it wasn’t criminal.

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Sanderlei Parrela of Brazil, who was second to Michael Johnson in the 400 meters in the 1999 World Championships, will probably miss the Olympics after a second confirmation he tested positive for steroids. . . . Manfred Ewald, 74, the former head of East German sports, and medical director Manfred Hoeppner, 65, were convicted of directing the “systematic and overall doping” of the nation’s Olympic athletes in a secret program that ravaged their bodies. They were placed on probation.

Tennis

Top-ranked Magnus Norman of Sweden had no trouble beating local wild-card entry Bjoern Phau, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round of the Mercedes Cup, a clay-court event at Stuttgart, Germany.

Nicolas Lapentti, who led Eduador to a Davis Cup upset of Britain, lost to Christian Ruud, 6-2, 7-5; and Mariano Zableta lost to Nikola Davydenko, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7), as the top two seeded players were ousted in the Dutch Open at Amsterdam.

College Basketball

The field for the NCAA men’s tournament will expand by one to 65 next season with an opening-round game between the champions of the Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference before the first round begins. The winner will move into a bracket as a 16th-seeded team.

Miscellany

Kyle Petty, still mourning the death of son Adam, said he will honor him by permanently taking over his race car. Adam Petty was killed in a crash at Loudon, N.H., in May and Kyle has been driving his son’s Busch Grand National series car since. . . . Skip Bertman, who has coached Louisiana State to five College World Series titles since 1991, will retire after next season. . . . John Rattay, a highly recruited quarterback who originally chose to play at Tennessee, will transfer to Arizona.

Paraguay stunned Brazil, 2-1, in the fifth round of World Cup qualifying play at Asuncion, Paraguay. It marked the first time Paraguay defeated Brazil in qualifying matches for the World Cup. Also, Uruguay defeated Venezuela, 3-1, at Montevideo, Uruguay. . . . The governing body of U.S. swimming, bowing to pressure from suit manufacturers, voted to lift the ban on full-length attire at the Olympic swimming trials.

Jurisprudence

Dennis Rodman pleaded guilty in Newport Beach to misdemeanor drunken driving and driving without a valid California license stemming from his arrest on Dec. 22. He will pay about $2,000 in fines and fees and will have to attend a three-month alcohol program.

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Track and Field Schedule

After two days off, the U.S. Olympic track and field trials will resume Thursday at Cal State Sacramento. A schedule of events:

DAY 5, THURSDAY

4 p.m.--Decathlon 100 sections. 4:20--Men’s hammer throw qualifying. 4:45--Decathlon long jump groups. 6--Decathlon shotput groups. 7--Decathlon high jump groups. 7:30--Women’s shotput qualifying. 7:45--Women’s triple jump qualifying. 8--Men’s 400 hurdles first round. 8:35--Women’s 800 first round. 8:45--Men’s javelin final. 9:07--Men’s 800 first round. 9:45--Men’s 3000 steeplechase final. 10:05--Decathlon 400 sections.