White House Wants Summit on Steroids

The White House wants to organize a summit of representatives from the major sports leagues and the U.S. Olympic Committee to discuss steroid use by athletes.

Officials at Major League Baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL and USOC confirmed Sunday they were contacted by the White House about such a meeting.

The White House had no immediate comment.

Spokesmen for the NFL, NBA, NHL and baseball said those sports would participate but added no date had been set.

NFL Players Assn. executive director Gene Upshaw said he would be interested in taking part in the meeting -- but only if others participate.

“We’re not looking to be in a position to be the only ones at a summit,” Upshaw said.

The USOC said it welcomed a chance to participate.

“We look forward to working with the White House in this important endeavor,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “There is no room for the use of banned or illegal substances.”

Track and Field

Stacy Dragila won her eighth national indoor pole vault title but failed in three attempts to reset her U.S. record.

Dragila jumped 15 feet 5 inches for the victory at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships at Boston. She did not come close in her three tries at 15-9, which would have broken her indoor mark of 15-8 1/4.

Meanwhile, Jen Toomey won the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes 9.82 seconds, one day after taking the 800 title.

North Carolina junior Laura Gerraughty won the shotput with a collegiate record toss of 62-9 1/2.

Winter Sports

U.S. skier Bode Miller failed to qualify for the second run of the slalom on a course that gives him trouble, hurting his chances to win the overall World Cup title. Norway’s Truls Ove Karlsen won the race at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, rallying from fifth after the opening leg for his first World Cup victory. He was timed in 1 minute 42.72 seconds.

Miller leads the standings with 1,084 points. Hermann Maier is second with 1,076. Benjamin Raich is third at 999.

Germany’s Maria Riesch recorded the first World Cup slalom victory of her career, nearly falling midway down the second run in a race at Levi, Finland.

Riesch finished in 1 minute 43.75 seconds, beating Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl by 0.32 of a second.

Jeremy Bloom of the United States and Jennifer Heil of Canada won moguls events in World Cup freestyle skiing at Spindleruv Myln, Czech Republic.

Bloom finished with 26.97 points. Heil had 26.67 points.

Germany’s Ronny Ackermann won a World Cup Nordic combined event at Oslo, keeping alive his slight chance for another overall title.

Ackermann finished second in the morning ski jump and then won the 15-kilometer cross-country race in 37 minutes 16 seconds.

Tennis

Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, in the rain-interrupted final of the Brasil Open at Costa do Sauipe, Brazil.... Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia won his third title of 2004 by defeating Robin Soderling of Sweden, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the final of the Open 13 indoor tournament at Marseille, France.... Top-seeded Fabiola Zuluaga of Colombia got past Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to win the Copa Colsanitas tournament for the third year in a row at Bogota, Colombia.

Four-time champion Andre Agassi withdrew from this week’s Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz., because of a hip injury, tournament officials said.

Boxing

Vanes Martirosyan of Glendale completed an unexpected rise to the top by defeating Austin Trout, 27-15, at Cleveland’s Old School Boxing Club in the 152-pound division to win the Olympic Box-Off and gain a spot on the 2004 U.S. team.

Martirosyan had defeated Cory Jones on Friday to reach the winners’ bracket of the trials.

Martirosyan still must qualify in one of two upcoming international events to reach the Olympic Games in Athens.

Boxer Louis Villalta was in a coma, one day after collapsing after a 12-round loss to Ricky Quiles at Pompano Beach, Fla., his manager Anthony Toresco said.

Miscellany

Five-time U.S. gymnastics champion Blaine Wilson will have surgery Wednesday on his torn left biceps, and there are some signs the injury might not be as severe as first thought. Wilson was able to curl his arm Sunday, and there wasn’t much swelling or discoloration, said Miles Avery, his longtime coach. Wilson tore the muscle Saturday night during the American Cup in New York.

Kent State offensive coordinator Doug Martin has been promoted to head football coach.

He replaces Dean Pees, who took a job last week as linebackers coach for the New England Patriots.