Miller Is Out of 200 as Well

World champion Inger Miller officially withdrew from the women’s 200 meters today because the left hamstring injury that forced her out of the 100 last week has not healed.

Miller still hopes to run in the 400-meter relay this weekend, U.S. Track and Field spokeswoman Jill Geer said.

Miller was replaced in the 200 by Torri Edwards, who was fourth in that event at the U.S. trials. Edwards also replaced Miller in the 100.

Miller hurt her hamstring while training at UCLA on Sept. 7, two days before she left for Sydney. When she pulled out of the 100 last week, she hoped the injury would heal in time for the 200.

Miller was second to Marion Jones in the 100 and 200 at the U.S. trials and was considered Jones’ chief rival in both events.

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NBC scored its highest-rated night of competition from the Sydney Olympics on Sunday, as an estimated 64 million people tuned in for at least part of the show.

Sunday’s telecast drew a 16.1 rating, a figure matched only by the Sept. 15 opening ceremony, and a 26 share.

The rating was 10% higher than for the previous Sunday’s coverage, and 19% higher than Saturday’s. It is also well above the 14.7 cumulative rating for NBC’s evening broadcasts from Australia.

That cumulative number, though, remains 9% under what advertisers were told the Olympics would generate. It is also 35% below where the 1996 Atlanta Games were to this stage and 17% below the 1988 Seoul Games--the last time the Summer Games were this late in the year.

Sunday night’s program peaked from 10-10:30 p.m. with a 19.3/29.

Through the first 10 days of the games, seven of the 10 highest-rated large markets are in the Mountain or Pacific time zones, topped by Salt Lake City--site of the 2002 Olympics--with a 22.7/41.

Those time zones see NBC’s taped coverage of Olympic events with a greater lag than viewers on the East Coast, which is 15 hours behind Sydney.

“We have repeatedly said the tape-delay would not be a major issue for most Olympic viewers and the numbers are bearing this out,” NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol said.

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U.S. women’s basketball player Chamique Holdsclaw said today she expects to sit out the entire Olympics because of the preliminary stress fracture in her right foot that kept her out of the first five games.

She had hoped to be able to play the final three games, but said she’s 85% sure she won’t play.

“I had a long talk with the trainer today,” Holdsclaw said. “He basically told me it’s in my best interests not to play.

“To hear that is really disappointing. During practice I was really depressed. But this is my livelihood.

“I’m lucky I’m not 35 years old and this is my last Olympics. I’m 23, so hopefully I’ll get to compete in some more Olympics.”