U.S. Shotputter Skipped Trials Because of Drugs

Olympic shotput hopeful Tressa Thompson said she dropped out of the Olympic trials last week after learning she had tested positive for drugs, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday.

The former All-American at Nebraska said she’d tested positive for cocaine, amphetamine and methamphetamine late last month at a meet in Portland, Ore.

“I’ve decided that I have to stand up and take my punishment straight on,” Thompson told the newspaper. “I know what I did was wrong.”

Thompson said that she was curious and took the drugs with friends in Omaha and Lincoln two or three times this spring and summer, then hoped that she wouldn’t test positive.

Thompson, 25, did not immediately return a message seeking comment left by the Associated Press on Thursday night.

Jurisprudence

The younger brother of Montreal Expo relief pitcher Ugueth Urbina claimed responsibility for a discotheque brawl last fall that resulted in assault charges against the baseball player.

Ulmer Urbina, 20, said he was visiting his brother in Montreal when a man pushed him from behind at a nightclub Sept. 7, causing him to spill his drink.

Claudia Meja, the player’s girlfriend, testified that the man who says he was assaulted by Ugueth Urbina acknowledged that someone else beat him up.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he would be willing to testify in the trial of the two former bid leaders indicted in the Salt Lake City Olympics scandal. In his first extensive comments on last week’s indictments of Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, Samaranch said he would continue to cooperate with the Justice Department.

Jerramy Stevens, a tight end on the University of Washington’s football team, was arrested in Seattle for investigation of sexual assault in June. Police made no further details available.

State prosecutors told a judge in Opelika, Ala., they have given former Auburn basketball star Chris Porter immunity in their case against a Las Vegas sports agent and two of his representatives accused of violating Alabama’s sports agent law. Robert Walsh, Nate Cebrun and Colleen Preiss are accused of illegally paying $2,500 to Porter when he was a projected NBA draft pick.

Miscellany

Former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion Stan Smith, 53, was named coach of the U.S. Olympic men’s tennis team after Davis Cup captain John McEnroe turned down the job. . . . Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia beat Sargis Sargsian of Armenia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, in the third round of the Generali Open at Kitzbuehel, Austria, after beating Hernan Gumy of Argentina, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in a rain-delayed second-round match earlier in the day. . . . Sergi Bruguera of Spain, a two-time French Open champion, defeated Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the third round of the San Marino Open. . . . Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport began her bid for a third consecutive Bank of the West Classic title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Nicole Pratt of Australia at Palo Alto. Anna Kournikova of Russia, looking for her first WTA singles title, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jana Nejedly of the Czech Republic, and Zimbabwe’s Cara Black upset sixth-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-2, 6-1.

FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, confirmed it had received South Africa’s appeal of Germany’s winning bid to host the 2006 World Cup, but declined further comment. In Beijing, Walter Gagg, director of FIFA’s development division, was reported saying South Africa’s appeal had no chance. South Africa lost the vote, 12-11, to Germany this month in Zurich. . . . Bolivia and Paraguay tied, 0-0, in a World Cup qualifying match at La Paz, Bolivia. . . . Measures to combat soccer hooliganism by English fans abroad was approved in Parliament. The bill, which awaits only the Queen’s signature, could become law next month in the wake of violence by English fans during the recent European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Tony Ayala Jr., 5-0 since resuming his boxing career after 16 years in prison, faces Yory Boy Campas in a 10-round middleweight bout tonight at San Antonio. . . . David Izon of Nigeria is signed to fight Mike Tyson, but there are important details to be worked out before he gets into the ring with the former heavyweight champion in a bout tentatively scheduled for Sept. 8 or 9 at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Charles Burton defeated U.S. Nationals 187-pound champion Les Gutches at the Special Wrestle-Off Series at Fargo, N.D., to qualify for the final spot on the Olympic freestyle wrestling team.

Alison Firestone of Virginia, the U.S. Equestrian team’s top-ranked show jumping rider, withdrew her horse Jox from the Olympic trials next week in San Juan Capistrano and Del Mar. Firestone, 23, was among the favorites to capture a spot on the four-member team, but she was forced to pull out of competition because of an abscess on Jox’s left-hind leg.

Mike Leclerc, a Mighty Duck left wing, accepted the team’s one-season qualifying offer. . . . The $175-million sale of the Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils to YankeeNets probably will be completed sometime next week, the chief executive of the sports and entertainment group said. . . . The Rigas family is now the official owner of the Buffalo Sabres with the NHL’s approval of a buyout of a dozen minority partners. NHL officials signed off on the ownership transfer, which has been in the works for two years.