Clijsters to skip Olympics due to clothing conflict
By FRANK PASTOR, Times wires
Published December 2, 2003
BRUSSELS, Belgium - Kim Clijsters, the world's second-ranked women's tennis player, won't compete in the 2004 Olympics in Athens because her endorsement contract with Fila conflicts with the Belgian Olympic Committee's agreement with adidas.
In a statement on her Web site, Clijsters said, "I have decided not to go to the Olympic Games. I want to remain loyal to the people with whom I have closed a contract. They were the only ones interested in me two years ago."
Howe Burch, Fila's senior vice president of marketing, said the company was willing to work out an agreement allowing Clijsters to compete, but added it was her decision.
Top-ranked Justine Henin-Hardenne, also from Belgium, doesn't have a conflict because she has an endorsement contract with adidas-Salomon AG.
BASEBALL: International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the U.S. team's failure to qualify for the Athens Games and Major League Baseball's refusal to shut down to allow top stars to play have made the sport's Olympic status even more uncertain. HOCKEY: Goaltender Sara DeCosta-Hayes, who helped the U.S. women's team win Olympic gold in 1998 and silver in 2002, retired.
COLLEGES: Tampa volleyball honors
Four Tampa players were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II All-America team and the Spartans' Chris Catanach earned his seventh award as South Region coach of the year. Ania Ruiz and Gretchen Naruta were named to the first team while Stephanie Rivera and Ericka Womack garnered honorable mention. Ruiz is the fifth athlete in NCAA Division II history to be a four-time AVCA All-American. The Spartans, ranked No. 2 by the AVCA, play at top-ranked Cal State San Bernardino in the national Elite Eight quarterfinals Thursday night.
SOCCER: Indiana's Jerry Yeagley is the winningest men's coach ever. He reached 541 Sunday in a 5-0 NCAA Tournament win over Virginia Commonwealth, leaving him second to the 544 credited to San Francisco's Steve Negoesco, who retired in 2000. A review of NCAA records, however, found Negoesco was credited with four wins in 1978 that had been vacated over use of an ineligible player. Yeagley is retiring at the end of this season.
TRACK AND FIELD: Best in U.S. honored
Decathlete Tom Pappas and distance runner Deena Drossin Kastor won the annual Jesse Owens Awards as the best in the United States. Pappas was the first American to win at the World Championships since Bruce Jenner in 1995 and also won the heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships. Drossin Kastor broke the American record for women in the marathon, finishing third in London in 2 hours, 21 minutes, 16 seconds, and won her third U.S. 10,000-meter title.
VAULTER RETIRES: Former world record-holding pole vaulter Emma George, 29, of Australia retired from the sport because of chronic back problems.
ET CETERA
ARENA FOOTBALL: Two-time All-AFL first-team fullback/linebacker Andre Bowden re-signed with the Storm. He has played with Tampa Bay nine of his 10 seasons. Bowden, 35, is one of four in league history with 1,000 career rushing yards. He had 42 yards and eight touchdowns in five games with Tampa Bay last season.
SOCCER: D.C. United of the MSL will not pick up the option on coach Ray Hudson's contract, dismissing the colorful Englishman after two seasons and a 19-25-14 record.
CYCLING: Fabio Testi was suspended for two years and he and his Mercatone Uno team were fined a total of $4,500 after he tested positive for banned substances, the Italian Cycling Federation announced.
