Bekele Lowers His Record in 10,000

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele broke his world record Friday in the 10,000 meters at the Van Damme Memorial at Brussels, and American sprinter Justin Gatlin rallied from a slow start to win the 100.

Bekele finished in 26 minutes 17.53 seconds, faster than his time in Ostrava in June 2004 by 2.78 seconds.

Gatlin rallied to take the 100 meters in 9.99 seconds, beating France’s Ronald Pognon and Jamaica’s Dwight Thomas. Maurice Greene finished last in 10.56.

In the 400 hurdles, American Lashinda Demus handed world champion and record-holder Yuliya Pechonkina-Nosova her first defeat of the season. Demus edged fellow American Sandra Glover in 53.61 seconds. Glover was 0.12 seconds back and Pechonkina-Nosova finished in 53.87.

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Tennis

Lindsay Davenport reclaimed the world’s No. 1 ranking by defeating Anna Chakvetadze, 6-3, 6-3, and advanced to the final of the Pilot Pen at New Haven, Conn.

She will play Amelie Mauresmo, who won a three-hour match against Anabel Medina Garrigues, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

In the men’s bracket, unseeded Victor Hanescuo beat fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, and advanced to the semifinals. James Blake defeated Juan Ignacio Chela, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3.

Two umpires have filed a lawsuit alleging that the sport’s international and national governing organizations discriminated against them after they complained that African Americans and females were not treated fairly on the job.

The lawsuit against the International Tennis Federation and the U.S. Tennis Assn. was filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on behalf of Cecil Holland, 47, of Queens, N.Y., and Sande French, 47, of Albion, Calif.

Sania Mirza defeated 15-year-old Alexa Glatch, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the final of the Forest Hills Women’s Classic in New York. Glatch, a high school junior from Newport Beach, turned pro earlier this year.

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Auto Racing

Ryan Newman outlasted two long rain delays, 12 cautions and overtime to stretch his winning streak to three in the NASCAR Busch series with a victory in the Food City 250 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. Greg Biffle finished second.

Two members of Reed Sorenson’s crew were thrown out of Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee after NASCAR officials caught the Busch team rubbing an unapproved substance on their tires.

Brian Pattie, crew chief for the No. 41 Dodge, and team member Brian Stafford were removed from track property and not allowed to participate in Friday night’s Busch race.

Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon continued their push to qualify for NASCAR’s Chase for the Championship, qualifying first and second at Bristol Motor Speedway for tonight’s Sharpie 500.

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Pro Basketball

Center Dikembe Mutombo, 39, signed a two-year deal with Houston. Mutombo’s return gives the team a backup to All-Star center Yao Ming.

Minnesota signed undrafted free agent Dwayne Jones, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound forward and shot-blocking specialist who can also play center. He left St. Joseph’s after three years, leading the Atlantic 10 in blocks each season.

Cleveland forward Anderson Varejao will return to his native Brazil next week for medical tests on a dislocated right shoulder, an injury he suffered in a World Championship qualifying game in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Dallas hired Rolando Blackman, the team’s all-time leading scorer, as an assistant coach.

The Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball Assn. hired former Baylor coach Dave Bliss, who left the school two years ago after a former player was charged with the murder of a teammate and the university found major violations of NCAA rules in his program.

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Miscellany

Bruton Smith, the billionaire owner of Speedway Motorsports Inc., reiterated his offer to pay Tennessee and Virginia Tech $20 million each to play a football game at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The proposal would call for the game to be played on artificial turf in Bristol’s infield, which Smith said he would raze to stage the game. Any game would have to be held in November, he said, because of Bristol’s racing schedule.

The allure of a game at Bristol is that the track is located about 120 miles from both campuses and with stadium-style seating, has a capacity of more than 160,000.

Washington State defensive tackle Ropita Pitoitua suffered a broken right leg and will be out six to eight weeks.

Former major league pitcher Dwight Gooden will be jailed without bail until an October hearing, a judge in Tampa, Fla., ruled. Gooden fled police during a DUI traffic stop this week.

The Mighty Ducks signed defenseman Jordan Smith, the team’s 2004 second-round pick, to a three-year entry level contract.

Super-flyweight Jose Navarro (22-1, 10 knockouts) of South Los Angeles will meet Juan Alfonso Keb Baas (30-15-2, 20) of Mexico on Sept. 3 in Eagle Pass, Texas, in a scheduled 10-round bout.