Bolt wins 200; Jeter (10.67) is third-best ever

Usain Bolt cruised to another victory in the 200 meters at the World Athletics final at Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sunday, and American sprinter Carmelita Jeter became the third-fastest woman ever by clocking 10.67 seconds in the 100.

Bolt finished in 19.68 in his last race of the season, coming fast out of the bend as usual but relaxing toward the end. Wallace Spearmon of the United States was second in 20.21 and Brendan Christian of Antigua was third in 20.65.

“I’m really tired, but I did what I had to do and I am happy,” Bolt said. “I decided I had one more good race in me, so I should just do it here and go home.”

Bolt received thunderous applause before and after the race from the crowd of 27,000 that filled Kaftanzoglio Stadium in the northern Greek city.

Jeter had the best performance of the day, running into a slight headwind of 0.1 meters per second to beat the Jamaican duo of Shelly-Ann Fraser (10.89) and Kerron Stewart (10.90). It was a small measure of revenge for Jeter, after losing to Fraser at worlds.

Only world-record holder Florence Griffith-Joyner and Marion Jones have run faster. Griffith-Joyner’s world record from 1988 is 10.49, and Jones ran 10.65 in 1998.

Sanya Richards wanted to cap her most successful season so far -- becoming world champion and sharing the Golden League jackpot -- with a U.S. record in the women’s 400.

However, she had to settle for victory in 49.96 seconds, falling short of her record of 48.70 from 2006.

BASKETBALL

Russia, France win in European event

Defending champion Russia slipped past Greece, 68-65, and France beat Croatia, 87-79, to stay unbeaten at the European basketball championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Russia, which has only three players from the team that upset Spain in the 2007 final, struggled in the first round of this year’s tournament and has clearly missed its two top players from the 2007 squad: Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko and J.R. Holden.

But the team has steadily improved since the opening round and took a big step toward the quarterfinals with Sunday’s victory over previously unbeaten Greece.

Kelly McCarty had 17 points and nine rebounds for Russia, and center Sofoklis Schortsanitis led Greece with 13 points.

France remained perfect in the tournament behind a strong performance from its NBA trio of Tony Parker, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw.

Parker, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs, scored 12 of his 24 points in the third quarter as France turned a five-point halftime deficit into a seven-point lead at the start of the fourth.

Batum, who plays for the Portland Trail Blazers, had 18 points, and Charlotte Bobcats forward Diaw chipped in with 15.

HOCKEY

Sabres sign forward Stafford to contract

The Buffalo Sabres have signed restricted free-agent forward Drew Stafford to a two-year deal.

Stafford, 23, emerged as a scoring threat last season, when he set career highs in goals and points in 79 games. In 184 NHL games, all with the Sabres, Stafford has 49 goals and 110 points.

The contract is worth $4 million. Stafford is due to earn $1.5 million in the coming season and $2.5 million in the 2010-11 season.

CYCLING

Zabriskie captures Tour of Missouri

American David Zabriskie was never challenged in the final stage of the Tour of Missouri, cruising along with the main pack while others made runs toward the front.

Zabriskie won the first professional stage race of his career, holding on to his 30-second lead during a 71.4-mile ride through the streets of downtown Kansas City.

Gustav Larsson remained in second overall and Marco Pinotti was third in the 612-mile race that started last Monday in St. Louis.

--

Damian Cunego of Italy won the 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, and Alejandro Valverde added to his overall lead by finishing fifth.

Cunego took the Spanish classic’s third consecutive mountain stage in 4 hours 4 minutes 23 seconds for his second stage win.

ETC.

Nebraska sets mark, UCLA wins match

Nebraska set an NCAA volleyball attendance record on the same day its 90-match home winning streak ended with a loss to UCLA.

A crowd of 13,870 was on hand at the Devaney Sports Center at Lincoln for the Bruins’ five-set women’s win over the Cornhuskers.

The attendance broke the NCAA regular-season, single-match record of 13,412, set last year when Louisiana State visited Nebraska.

The 18-25, 25-17, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7 loss to UCLA was Nebraska’s first at home since Florida A&M; beat the Cornhuskers in 2004.

--

Alexis Arguello, who won titles in three weight divisions, will be inducted into the posthumous category of the California Boxing Hall of Fame on Sept. 26 in Commerce. Arguello, 57, died July 1 in Managua, Nicaragua.