Sports
Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
In brief
Skaters criticize Turin's ice
By wire services
Published December 12, 2005
TURIN, Italy - Organizers promise to address complaints about dust, dirty ice and changing conditions made during a World Cup event at the new speed-skating oval for the Turin Olympics.
Officials are considering melting the ice and creating a new surface or cutting it down and cleaning it. The decision also depends on broadcast officials' analysis of a red warmup lane, which could affect TV images. If it's rejected, a new surface will be made.
Officials also are tinkering with the temperature. The ice was harder and, thus, faster in the morning.
On the event's final day, Italy's Enrico Fabris won the 1,500. Fabris, part of the winning pursuit relay Saturday, won in 1:46.46, .36 and 1.12 faster than Canada's Denny Morrison and American Chad Hedrick , respectively.
FIGURE SKATING: Michelle Kwan won the U.S. Figure Skating Challenge in Boston. Fans at home and at the event determined the winner, and Kwan, in her first competition since injuring her hip in October, won 59 percent of the vote in the final against Sasha Cohen . Johnny Weir overcame a fall in his first program to win the men's competition. He earned 64 percent of the vote against Michael Weiss .
WOMEN'S DOWNHILL: Two-time defending overall champ Anja Paerson of Sweden won a World Cup event in Aspen, Colo. She finished two runs in 1:36.01, .03 faster than Croatia's Janica Kostelic .
GIANT SLALOM: Germany's Maria Riesch will have surgery for a left knee ligament she tore Saturday and likely will miss the Olympics. She crashed off the course and through a gate, her knee bending beneath her.
BASEBALL
Tejada doesn't want trade
Three days after telling the Associated Press he wanted "a change of scenery," Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada backed off. "I never said I wanted to be traded," he told Comcast SportsNet. "I said I want to see a better team." Orioles vice president Mike Flanagan did not comment on if Boston offered leftfielder Manny Ramirez in a trade for Tejada.
DODGERS: Derek Thompson , the ex-Land O'Lakes High pitcher who made his debut in May, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of trespassing, a misdemeanor, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa. Thompson, 24, expected to miss 2006 after elbow surgery, was arrested at 3:40 a.m. and released on $500 bond. He could not be reached for comment.
- GREG AUMAN, Times staff writer
GIANTS: Right-hander Matt Morris , who has won at least 14 games four of the past five seasons, is close to signing a three-year, $27-million deal, ESPN.com reported.
RED SOX: Owner John Henry said team president Larry Lucchino will not be stripped of some power in order to lure ex-general manager Theo Epstein back. In October, Epstein turned down a three-year, $4.5-million extension because of a reported falling out with Lucchino, his longtime mentor. No replacement has been hired.
HORSES
Afleet Alex to stud
Afleet Alex , who finished third at the Kentucky Derby and won the Preakness and Belmont, will stand as a stallion at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky. Farm president Antony Beck said the 2006 stud fee will be $40,000 per live foal. Afleet Alex was retired recently because of an ankle injury.
ET CETERA
SWIMMING: Netherlands set a world record in the 200-meter free relay at the European Short-Course meet in Trieste, Italy. Mark Veens , Mitja Zastrov , Gijs Damen and Johan Henkhuis finished in 1:25.03, .52 faster than the record the Netherlands set in 2003. Also, France's Laure Manaudou and Hungary's Laszlo Cseh won the 100 back, giving both three golds.
RODEO: Bull riding champion Matt Austin , 24, of Wills Point, Texas, set a record for money won in a season, earning $12,368 for a second-place finish at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas for a total of $320,765, $22,869 more than Ty Murray in 1993.
SUPERCROSS: James Stewart of Haines City raced to his second straight World GP victory Saturday night, beating Ricky Carmichael in Vancouver. Chad Reed of Dade City was third.
[Last modified December 12, 2005, 01:11:08]
Share your thoughts on this story
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
