Sprinter Grimes Is Suspended for Two Years

U.S. sprinter Mickey Grimes was suspended for two years after testing positive for steroids, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday.

Grimes, 28, of Hawthorne, tested positive for the anabolic steroid norandrosterone from a sample collected in May as part of an out-of-competition testing program.

The suspension began Dec. 16 and will end July 18, 2006. Grimes earned credit for a provisional suspension he accepted after testing positive for ephedrine at the 2003 Pan American Games. He was stripped of the 100-meter gold medal, and the U.S. 400-meter relay team’s gold also was taken away because of Grimes’ test.

He had faced a lifetime ban for two doping infractions.

Grimes is a member of the HSI group coached by John Smith. Two other HSI athletes, sprinter Torri Edwards and hurdler Larry Wade, have also failed tests.

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A proposal to have the first TV debate in Olympic bid history featuring the five cities vying for the 2012 Summer Games is being discussed. The debate would be broadcast by BBC World, though the date, site and guests for the proposed debate have not been decided, BBC World spokesman Kevin Young said.

The format probably would involve bid leaders presenting their cases, with a panel later asking questions.

“It’s obviously a good thing for all of the cities,” New York 2012 spokesman Michael Moran said.

The BBC World channel is shown in more than 200 countries and the debate would give each city a chance to make a very public pitch for playing host to the Olympics.

The 2012 host will be selected by the International Olympic Committee on July 6 in Singapore. The IOC said it would have no problem with the debate, as long as the bidding process rules apply, meaning debaters would be permitted to promote their own cities but not criticize others.

The IOC’s 11-member evaluation commission will visit Madrid on Feb. 3-6, London on Feb. 16-19, New York on Feb. 21-24, Paris on March 9-12, and Moscow on March 14-17.

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Baseball

First baseman Tino Martinez and the New York Yankees finalized a $3-million, one-year contract that gives Manager Joe Torre a familiar option if Jason Giambi’s health problems keep him out of the lineup again.

Martinez, 37, played for the Yankees from 1996 to 2001, helping them win five American League pennants and four World Series titles. He batted .262 with 23 homers and 76 runs batted in for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last season.

Giambi, who replaced Martinez as New York’s first baseman in 2002, sat out much of last season because of a variety of illnesses, the most significant a benign tumor.

During the off-season, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Giambi told a federal grand jury in 2003 that he used steroids, and the Yankees have been investigating whether they can void his contract, which has $82 million and four years remaining.

Martinez, a two-time All-Star, has 322 homers, 18th among active players. He has played in 95 postseason games, fourth on the career list. He gets $2.75 million next season, and the Yankees have a $3-million option for 2006 with a $250,000 buyout.

New York’s acquisition of Randy Johnson from Arizona, which probably will be completed next week, will boost the Yankees’ payroll to about $205 million, easily topping the major league record of $187.9 million they set in 2004.

Hall of Fame third baseman George Kell is hospitalized in Little Rock, Ark., and will need some physical therapy after breaking his left leg and left arm in a car crash, his wife said. Carolyn Kell said her 82-year-old husband was “doing very well” but remained hospitalized since the crash Tuesday with a tractor-trailer.

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Motor Racing

NASCAR driver Robby Gordon won the opening leg of the Dakar Rally, the first American to win a stage in the car division of the world’s most grueling road race.

Gordon, driving a Volkswagen in his first Dakar Rally, covered a four-mile sprint along a beach outside Barcelona in 4 minutes 20 seconds. He was two seconds ahead of Hiroshi Masuoka of Japan. Giniel De Villiers of South Africa was third, another second behind.

Defending champion Stephane Peterhansel of France was ninth.

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Tennis

The men’s tour and some of the sport’s biggest names will join organizers of a Madras tournament next week in assisting victims of the tsunami that devastated India’s south coast.

The ATP, the governing body of men’s tennis, will donate the $25,000 sanctioning fee for the Chennai Open to UNICEF emergency efforts in the state of Tamil Nadu, of which Chennai is the capital.

Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt, the three top-ranked players, will auction autographed rackets, with the money also going to UNICEF relief.

“We have all witnessed unimaginable scenes from South Asia the last few days,” said Swedish star Jonas Bjorkman, who will play in Madras. “The horrific tragedy that has followed the earthquake at sea last Sunday is impossible to fully comprehend or put into words. But it is possible to act.”

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Soccer

Iraq Coach Adnan Hamad has resigned because of security concerns and trouble getting players to join the national team, according to FootballAsia.com.

Hamad, who was recently named Asian coach of the year, led Iraq to the semifinals at the Athens Olympics in August and took his team to the Asian Cup quarterfinals in July.

Argentina’s Carlos Tevez was voted Latin American player of the year, the second time in a row he won the annual poll of sports journalists.

Tevez, a 20-year-old striker, led Argentina to the gold medal at the Athens Olympics. He also recently moved from Boca Juniors to Brazil’s Corinthians.

Tevez got 76 votes to beat countryman Javier Mascherano of River Plate. Brazil’s Robinho and Argentina’s Luis Gonzalez tied for third.

The award has been given by Uruguayan newspaper El Pais since 1986.

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Jurisprudence

A man accused of killing a Vanderbilt football player turned himself in, police in Tampa, Fla., said.

Rodney “Roscoe” Roman was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kwane Doster, a running back with Vanderbilt, and two counts of attempted murder, Tampa police spokesman Joe Durkin said.

Doster was shot to death Sunday after his friends got in a dispute with three other men about whose car was better, Durkin said.

Police said Roman, who is in his late 20s, fired the shot that killed Doster and was the driver of the car that pulled up alongside the vehicle Doster was riding in Sunday.

Roman was accompanied by his lawyer, Daniel Castillo, when he surrendered at the Hillsborough County jail, Durkin said. Castillo told the Tampa Tribune Roman “was not the person they are looking for. They got the wrong guy.”

Doster was the first Vanderbilt player recognized as the Southeastern Conference freshman of the year in 2002 after setting a team record of 798 rushing yards.

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Passings

Bob Ferguson, an All-American fullback at Ohio State who was the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 1961, died Thursday. He was 64. Story in Section B.