Marathoner Loses Bid to Be U.S. Olympian

Khalid Khannouchi, the world’s top marathoner, won’t be a U.S. citizen in time to compete in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, a spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said Wednesday in Washington.

Khannouchi, the world record-holder in the marathon whose presence could have transformed the U.S. national team into a medal contender, won’t be eligible to apply for citizenship before the Games, INS spokesman Russ Bergeron said.

In 1996, three years after coming to New York from Morocco, Khannouchi married a naturalized U.S. citizen and began seeking citizenship.

He was interviewed by an INS examiner in September 1997. When the INS caseworker was later charged with bribery, a number of cases were shelved--including Khannouchi’s, although it was not among those involved in the illegal activity.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.) have pushed for Khannouchi’s citizenship and criticized the INS for acting too slowly.

Khannouchi received permanent resident status in 1998. Under immigration law, from that date he has to wait three years before applying for citizenship, Bergeron said. After that, becoming a citizen takes 15 more months, so Khannouchi could not become a citizen until 2002. Khannouchi won the Chicago Marathon last year in a world-record 2 hours 5 minutes 42 seconds.

College Football

USC quarterback Carson Palmer returns to the field today after recovering from a broken collarbone as the Trojans open spring football practice.

“He’s been throwing on his own and feels good,” said Coach Paul Hackett, who will assess Palmer’s arm fatigue after light practices today and Friday in preparation for drills to resume March 23. Palmer, injured in the third game of USC’s 6-6 season, will be a sophomore this season as USC opens a critical year for Hackett with a game against Penn State Aug. 27 in the Kickoff Classic at East Rutherford, N.J.

USC will hold public scrimmages March 31 at Howard Jones Field and April 8 at the Coliseum before concluding spring drills April 15.

Jurisprudence

The lawyer for a co-defendant of Rae Carruth should be kicked off the case because he could be a witness at the murder trial of the former Carolina Panther player, Carruth’s attorney, David Rudolf, said in Charlotte, N.C.

Rudolf filed a motion to disqualify James Exum, who represents Michael Eugene Kennedy, because of statements Exum made to reporters.

Rudolf argued that Exum became a potential witness when he said in December that Kennedy claimed Carruth didn’t want the baby his girlfriend, Cherica Adams, was carrying.

He also told reporters Kennedy said Carruth was talking by cell phone with one of the suspects when Adams was shot four times Nov. 16.

Sports agent William “Tank” Black destroyed the investment savings of about two dozen professional athletes and should not be allowed to continue his dealings or purge his records, federal lawyers said in Tampa, Fla.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit last month, claiming Black and colleagues violated securities laws by defrauding clients, skimming profits, accepting kickbacks, misappropriating funds and charging for services not provided. Black’s attorney, Michael Wolensky, said the government should have to prove the allegations at trial, rather than rely on the declaration from an SEC attorney.

Sports agent Ronald Allen was ordered to spend 21 months in prison for defrauding former American Basketball League guard Jennifer Azzi. Allen pleaded guilty in July to one wire fraud count, admitting he deposited a $36,000 check made payable to Azzi into his business account at a Nevada bank. . . . Gene Lessley Price, accused of trying to profit from the plight of Houston Comet guard Kim Perrot was convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud. Perrot later died.

A pretrial hearing for figure skater Tonya Harding was delayed until March 22 in Camas, Wash., in an alleged Feb. 23 attack on her boyfriend. Harding, 29, has pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor domestic assault charge, which could get her a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

A judge in Tallahasse, Fla., set a May 3 hearing date to talk to lawyers in the case of former Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski, facing a bribery charge for allegedly offering a police officer $300 to release his roommate on a trespassing charge.

Miscellany

The New York State Athletic Commission turned over to a district attorney all records of a Feb. 26 junior-welterweight bout on the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya-Derrell Coley fight in which Joey Gamache stayed on the canvas for seven minutes when he was knocked out by Arturo Gatti, who allegedly put on 19 pounds after the weigh-in. The contract weight for the fight was 141 pounds, but Gatti apparently weighed 160 pounds in an unofficial weigh-in by HBO. De La Hoya’s and Coley’s records were also given to the district attorney.

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt overcame the Czech Republic’s Daniel Vacek, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-2, in the first round of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz. Top-seeded Andre Agassi had no trouble with South African qualifier Marcos Ondruska, 6-2, 6-1. Ecuador’s Nicolas Lapentti beat Australia’s Andrew Ilie, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3; wild card Chris Woodruff stopped Czech qualifier Slava Dosedel, 7-5, 6-4; and Spain’s Carlos Moya defeated Argentina’s Mariano Zabaleta, 7-5, 7-5.

The Baltimore Ravens signed free-agent quarterback Trent Dilfer to a one-year, $1-million contract. Dilfer was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . . . Lothar Matthaeus, FIFA’s 1991 player of the year, ended his European career with a victory when Bayern Munich routed Real Madrid, 4-1, to clinch a Champions Cup quarterfinal berth. He will travel to the United States Friday to join the New York-New Jersey MetroStars of Major League Soccer. . . . In an exhibition, Roy Myers and Sebastian Vorbe, a nonroster invitee, scored to lead the Galaxy over Talleres de Cordoba, 2-1, at Cordoba, Argentina. . . . Defending champion Doug Swingley moved to the head of the pack in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.