Gebrselassie sets half-marathon mark
Running
Haile Gebrselassie shattered the world half-marathon record by 21 seconds yesterday while running the last half of the Rock 'N' Roll Arizona marathon. He also broke the 20-kilometer world mark en route. It marked the 19th and 20th times the diminutive Ethiopian has broken world records in his career. His half-marathon time of 58 minutes 55 seconds on a clear, crisp morning through the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Tempe broke the mark of 59:16 set by 18-year-old Kenyan Samuel Wanjiru in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, last Sept. 11. His 20-kilometer time, also officially clocked, was 55:48. That broke the world record held by his longtime rival, Paul Tergat of Kenya, of 56:18 set in the Stramilano, Italy, half-marathon April 4, 1998. While nearly 34,000 took part in the marathon and related running events, only Gebrselassie and four pacesetters took off from the midpoint of the marathon course. Initially, he was slower than Wanjiru's world-record pace, but that changed when the 32-year-old four-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist took off on his own some 10 kilometers into his race . . . A.J. Acosta, the 2005 Foot Locker
Football
USC loses juniors Bing, Justice to NFL
Southern California lost two more underclassmen to the NFL Draft when All-America safety Darnell Bing and tackle Winston Justice informed the school they would skip their senior seasons. The Trojans have had five underclassmen declare for April's draft since losing the Rose Bowl to Texas. The 6-foot-2-inch, 230-pound Bing had 50 tackles and four interceptions this season. Justice started every game after missing the 2004 season when he was suspended from school for flashing a pellet gun at a student . . . Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton has decided to quit football after sitting out the past season because of illness. Sexton, committed to a psychiatric facility in June after being found disheveled and disoriented on a Tallahassee, Fla., street, said he will skip his final year of eligibility to concentrate on his health . . . Redskins guard Ray Brown, 43, confirmed he is planning on retiring after 20 NFL seasons . . . The Packers hired Falcons offensive line coach Jeff Jagodzinski, 42, as their offensive coordinator under new coach Mike McCarthy.
Winter sports
Fabris glides to speedskating victory
Enrico Fabris became the first Italian to win a men's title at the European Speedskating Championship. Skating in the last pair in the final 10,000 meters, he finished seventh in the grueling race. It was enough to win the four-event series in Hamar, Norway, with 151,523 points. Claudia Pechstein of Germany held off two Dutch skaters to win the women's gold medal with 163,159 points . . . Philipp Schoch of Switzerland beat younger brother Simon in the final of the men's parallel giant slalom in Plan de Corones, Italy, for his third World Cup snowboard win this season. World Cup leader Daniela Meuli of Switzerland beat Julie Pomagalski of France in the women's parallel GS . . . Hannu Manninen of Finland clinched his seventh World Cup victory of the season in a Nordic combined 7.5-kilometer event with a time of 19 minutes 59.9 seconds in Predazzo, Italy . . . Andre Florschuetz and Torsten Wustlich of Germany celebrated their first World Cup luge win this season, capturing a doubles race on the Olympic track in 1:19.704 in Igls, Austria.
Flowers chosen for US bobsled team
Returning bobsled gold medalist Vonetta Flowers was among nine athletes awarded Olympic spots by the US Bobsled and Skeleton Federation as it picked its skeleton and women's bobsled teams; the nine-member men's bobsled team will be formally announced today. Suspended skeleton coach Tim Nardiello, who has been accused of sexual harassment, will be among the names sent this week by the federation to the US Olympic Committee for final approval. It's still unclear, though, if the USOC will allow Nardiello to coach at the Olympics . . . Pierre Lueders of Canada won his second straight World Cup bobsled event, setting a track record in the four-man race in Koenigsee, Germany. Lueders, who also won the two-man race, teamed with Ken Kotyk, Morgan Alexander, and Lascelles Brown to finish in a combined time of 1:37.26.
Miscellany
US basketball gets a shot at Puerto Rico
The US men's basketball team will face Puerto Rico at the world basketball championships in August, providing a chance to avenge its lopsided loss at the Athens Olympics. The opening game Aug. 19 in Sapporo, Japan, will be a rematch of a 92-73 loss to Puerto Rico at the 2004 Olympics. The US finished with a bronze medal at the Games. Yesterday's draw put the top-seeded US team in Group D along with Slovenia, Italy, China, and Senegal . . . The Reds and catcher Javier Valentin agreed to a one-year, $1.15 million contract, avoiding arbitration. Valentin hit a career-high .281 last year with 14 home runs and 50 RBIs . . . French driver Luc Alphand won the Dakar Rally after finishing the final non-timed leg in Senegal. Alphand led heading into the final stage, which race organizers said would not be timed to honor two boys killed during the race.
