In brief

Gatlin tops 3 mates to win 200

By wire services
Published August 12, 2005

HELSINKI, Finland - Justin Gatlin led a U.S. sweep in the 200 meters Thursday, winning his second gold medal at the world track and field championships in another great day for the American team. Michelle Perry captured the 100-meter hurdles and Walter Davis took the triple jump.

Gatlin, winner of the 100, was first in 20.04 seconds in the 200 as Americans claimed the top four spots. Wallace Spearmon (20.20) was second, defending champ John Capel (20.31), a Brooksville native, third and Tyson Gay (20.34) fourth.

Gatlin will go for a sprint triple during Saturday's final in the 400 relay. "I am here to make history," he said.

Capel said of Gatlin: "The only person I think that would be able to be in the same sentence with him is Maurice Greene."

Perry took the lead when Olympic champion and fellow American Joanna Hayes stumbled at the next-to-last hurdle and won ahead of Jamaicans Delloreen Ennis-London and Brigitte Foster-Hylton.

Davis was a big surprise, with a season-best leap of 57 feet, 73/4 inches. He edged Yoandri Betanzos of Cuba and Marian Oprea of Romania.

Andre Agassi had little trouble with error-prone Nicolas Kiefer, reaching the quarterfinals of the Montreal Masters with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. The 35-year-old Agassi, seeded No. 4, faces sixth-seeded Gaston Gaudio today. Also advancing to the quarterfinals was French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who overpowered Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 6-4. JPMORGAN CHASE OPEN: Maria Sharapova survived an injury and another challenge from a fellow Russian, defeating Anna Chakvetadze 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a third-round match in Carson, Calif.

The Orlando Magic waived guard Doug Christie after a disappointing season marred by injury and public squabble with team management. The Magic still has to pay Christie $8.2-million for the final year of his contract.

PRESEASON: The St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa hosts an NBA preseason game between the Magic and Hornets at 7 p.m. Oct.15 Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. today at the Times Forum and all Ticketmaster outlets. To order, call (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100 or go to ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $45, $35, $24 and $10. VIP courtside seats are $200 and $150. For details, call (813) 301-2500.

WNBA: Katie Smith scored 13 against her former team, and Deanna Nolan had all 12 of her points in the second half to lead host Detroit past Minnesota 72-66 in overtime. ... Nykesha Sales scored 20, leading five Connecticut starters in double figures and the Sun beat host Washington 80-65. ... Tamika Catchings shrugged off a slow start and finished with a team-high 11 points, leading visiting Indiana past San Antonio 57-50.

DIVING: Justin and Troy Dumais won the 3-meter synchro gold medal at the national championships in Huntersville, N.C. Also, Nancilea Underwood and Cassidy Krug won the women's 3-meter synchro, Jevon Tarantino captured the men's 1-meter springboard and high school junior Kelci Bryant won the women's 1-meter for her first senior national title.

GYMNASTICS: Chellsie Memmel outperformed premeet favorite Nastia Liukin to finish first in the preliminaries at the U.S. championships in Indianapolis. The finals are Saturday night.

[Last modified August 12, 2005, 01:06:20]