China’s Liu Xiang Breaks 110-Meter Hurdles Record

Liu Xiang of China set a world record in the 110-meter hurdles on Tuesday, breaking the record he shared with Britain’s Colin Jackson.

Liu’s time of 12.88 seconds at the Athletissima Grand Prix meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, was .03 better than the record he matched in winning gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Jackson ran 12.91 in Stuttgart, Germany, in August 1993.

Marion Jones won the women’s 100, her sixth victory in eight meets, leading a U.S. sweep of the top four places in that event.

In the men’s 200, American Xavier Carter ran the second-fastest race in history, 19.63. Only Michael Johnson’s time of 19.32, set while winning gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, is faster.

A U.S. relay team was denied a world indoor record because the runners weren’t tested after the race for the banned substance EPO.

The U.S. squad -- Kerron Clement, Wallace Spearmon, Darold Williamson and Jeremy Wariner -- had a time of 3 minutes 1.96 seconds in the 1,600-meter relay at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 11.

But officials responsible for collecting samples for drug testing at the meet failed to request an EPO test from the laboratory, making the result ineligible as an official record, the International Assn. of Athletics Federations said. The record remains 3:02.83, run by another U.S. team in Maebashi, Japan, in March 1999.

HORSE RACING

Barbaro Adjusting to His New Cast

Barbaro was resting comfortably and eating with gusto, one day after the colt’s veterinarian said the Kentucky Derby winner was in for “tough days ahead.”

“He’s tolerating the new cast well,” Dean Richardson said at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square. “We have changed his left hind foot bandage and that looks improved. His vital signs remain stable and his attitude and appetite remain excellent.”

Barbaro had a new cast applied Monday -- his sixth overall, and the fourth change in a week. He also underwent three other procedures on the right hind leg he shattered in the Preakness seven weeks ago, including surgery on Saturday to correct “potentially serious” complications to the injured leg.

TENNIS

Gaudio Advances at the Swiss Open

Defending champion Gaston Gaudio moved into the second round of the Swiss Open at Gstaad, beating Marcos Daniel, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Gaudio will play Christophe Rochus, who beat Fernando Vicente, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.

Third-seeded Tomas Berdych and seventh-seeded Guillermo Coria lost first-round matches at the Swedish Open in Bastad. Berdych, who reached last year’s final, was beaten by Nicolas Almagro, 6-2, 7-6 (7). Jose Acasuso rallied to defeat Coria, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Top-seeded Andy Murray survived five match points to defeat Ricardo Mello, 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (5), in the opening round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championship at Newport, R.I. Also, Sam Querrey defeated Danai Udomchoke, 6-4, 6-3.

Wimbledon finalist Rafael Nadal was unhurt in a car accident on the island of Mallorca.

Nadal was driving alone in his hometown of Manacor when his car skidded down a hill and hit an electrical pylon, according to his mother, Ana Maria Parera.

The Newport Beach Breakers defeated the Houston Wranglers, 23-16, in a World TeamTennis match at Newport Beach.

MISCELLANY

Former Trojan Robinson to Transfer to Cornell

Former USC shooting guard Collin Robinson will transfer to Cornell and plans to appeal NCAA rules that would force him to sit out the 2006-07 season, his mother Evelyn said. Robinson’s appeal will be based on the non-renewal of his scholarship by the Trojans after his freshman year, Evelyn Robinson said.

-- Ben Bolch

Former Fresno State basketball player Terry Pettis was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering a teenage woman in a botched drug robbery. The sentence was handed down in Fresno County Superior Court after a series of emotional speeches by Pettis, his father and the family of the victim, 18-year-old Rene Shannon Abbott.

A team dominated by players from Southern California will try to help the U.S. advance in FINA World League women’s water polo competition when semifinal-round competition begins today at the U.S. Water Polo National Training Center in Los Alamitos. The Americans play China at 9 tonight.

-- Lauren Peterson

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, a private school seeking to upgrade its baseball program, has hired Matt LaCour as its coach. LaCour guided Woodland Hills El Camino Real to the 2005 City Section championship and compiled a 127-32 record in five seasons.

-- Eric Sondheimer

The Arizona Cardinals signed former USC offensive lineman Taitusi Lutui to a four-year contract. He was a second-round pick of the team in the draft.

Two-time Olympic skier and fifth-round draft pick Jeremy Bloom agreed to terms on a four-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles, agent Gary Wichard said.

The Ducks signed right wing Colby Genoway and defenseman Clay Wilson to two-year entry level contracts. The team also announced it would move the start time of its weeknight games in the 2006-07 season to 7 p.m.

Peter Forsberg doesn’t need surgery on his left ankle and could be ready for the start of the NHL season, four months earlier than the Philadelphia Flyers forward was expected to return.

Chris Zambri, a Nationwide Tour veteran, has been named coach of the USC men’s golf team.