Olympics briefs

By Compiled from Times wires

Kayaker Perez wins right to compete for U.S.

SYDNEY, Australia -- Angel Perez escaped Cuba to make a better life for himself. He has succeeded with that goal in the United States, and now he's finally getting his chance to repay his new nation.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport decided Monday that Perez, a 1992 Olympic kayaker for his native land, can compete for the U.S. team in Sydney even though he has been a citizen for only a year.

The U.S. Olympic Committee apparently argued successfully that Perez gave up his Cuban citizenship when he defected in 1993, therefore meeting the three-year waiting period to change nationalities.

"I've been waiting for so long for this," Perez said. "I want to be able to give back to the country that has given me everything. I will do my best to represent them well and bring a medal back to the USA."

ONLY IN BOXING: Olympic boxing has finally sunk to this: even the people running it are now offering bribes.

Actually, amateur boxing officials are going one better by giving judges and referees an offer they can't refuse -- double the bribe in cash for anyone reporting an attempt to influence the scoring of a fight.

If that doesn't work, spy cameras high above the ring in the Sydney Exhibition Center are trained on judges to help make sure there's no hanky-panky.

FROM THOSE WITH LITTLE TO THOSE WITH LESS: Boxer Victor Ramos, who fled his home as violence devastated East Timor last year, donated his boxing gloves Monday to help refugee children around the world.

Ramos, who lost his 132-pound bout Sunday night, handed his autographed blue and white gloves to Olympic Aid, which sends athletic gear to refugee camps.

The charity's president, Johann Olav Koss, said he also has received an autographed shirt from boxing legend Muhammad Ali and been promised racing suits from Dutch swimming star Inge de Bruijn.

"We are proud to be here, and we thank the big people for allowing us to participate in the Olympic Games," said Ramos, who was on the death list of militia groups that tried to destroy East Timor's independence movement.

DRUG DEALINGS: A day after the entire team was banned for drug violations, five "clean" Romanian weightlifters were reinstated when their Olympic committee agreed to pay a $50,000 fine.

In another high-profile doping case, former Olympic 5,000-meter champion Dieter Baumann of Germany was ruled out of the Games after losing his appeal of a four-year suspension for steroid use.

AD PULLED: NBC pulled from its advertising lineup one of Nike's commercials -- a parody of a slasher movie in which a woman is pursued by a masked man with a chain saw.

"Due to adverse audience reaction, we pulled the ad early this morning," spokeswoman Maria Battaglia said Monday from NBC headquarters in New York.

Nike vice president Charles Denson was disappointed in the network's response.

"I guess we felt it was a little ironic," he said. "(NBC) preapproved the ad before it ran in the Olympic spot."

The ad begins with distance runner Suzy Favor Hamilton spotting a man in a hockey mask, much like the Jason character from the Friday the 13th movies, preparing to attack her with a chain saw.

Hamilton runs off and keeps up such a strong pace, the masked attacker collapses, wheezing in exhaustion. The tag line says: "Why sport? You'll live longer."

SAMARANCH FUNERAL: About 800 people joined International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch in a funeral Mass at Barcelona for his wife, Maria Teresa Salisachs-Rowe, who died last weekend after an illness. Samaranch said he would return to the Games today.

ANGRY NIGERIANS: Members of the defending men's soccer champion team from Nigeria spent seven hours waiting for seats on a plane to take them to their match in Adelaide on Monday.

"I'm not happy with the arrangements. My players are very tired, especially from traveling after the game against Australia," coach Jo Bonfrere told reporters at a news conference in Adelaide.