The Hindu : Sports digest

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 01, 2002

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Sports digest

ATHLETICS: NEW YORK: Olympic pole vault champion Stacy Dragila withdrew from the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships on Wednesday because of a lingering foot injury and flu. She has had a disappointing 2002, clearing 4.57 meters (15 feet) just once and losing her indoor world record to Svetlana Feofanova of Russia. Dragila missed four weeks of training in December and January because of the left foot injury. The six-time defending national pole vault champion - the only woman to win the U.S. title in the event - won't compete again indoors this year.

BASKETBALL: WASHINGTON: Michael Jordan will probably be able to play again this season. Whether he can make it back in time to save the Washington Wizards' drive for the playoffs is another matter. Jordan had surgery for the first time in his career on Wednesday morning. Team physician Dr. Stephen Haas found and repaired torn cartilage in the 39-year-old forward's right knee, an injury Haas said was the result of normal wear and tear for an athlete of Jordan's calibre. Typically, recovery time for such an operation is two to six weeks depending on age, severity of the tear and workout ethic. The Wizards will have a better idea of Jordan's time frame when he begins therapy after a few days.

FOOTBALL: LONDON: French soccer great Michel Platini is standing for election to both the UEFA and FIFA Executive Committees. Platini, 46, who had a glittering playing career leading France to victory in the 1984 European championships and also later managed the side, is hoping to gain a seat on both bodies during elections at the UEFA congress in Stockholm on April 25. His nominations come as no real surprise as he has been involved with soccer's administration as an advisor to FIFA President Sepp Blatter for the last four years.

LA CORUNA (Spain): Deportivo de La Coruna gave a commanding display on Wednesday to beat a disappointing Juventus 2-0 in a fourth-rotation match in Champions League Group D. In an encounter which saw Juventus' substitute Edgar Davids dismissed after the interval, headed goals in each half by striker Diego Tristan and second-half substitute Djalminha gave the Spanish side a fully deserved win. Juventus remains without a victory in Spain since 1970-71 and without a Champions League away win since March 1998.Deportivo has seven points while Juventus stays on four points in a group which also includes Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen.

Wednesday's results: Group C: Porto 1, Real Madrid 2; Panathinaikos 2, Sparta Prague 1. Group D: Arsenal 4, Bayer Leverkusen 1; Deportivo 2, Juventus 0.

SWIMMING: SYDNEY: Olympic and World swimming champion Ian Thorpe said on Thursday he has been named winner of the American-International Athlete Trophy by the International Amateur Athletic Association in New York. The 19-year-old Australian, who won a record six gold medals at last year's world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, will be presented with the award in New York on March 27. The award, being presented for the 22nd time and selected by an international panel, was formerly known as the Jesse Owens Award and was won last year by sprinter Marion Jones. ``I received a letter telling me I had won the award and I am both surprised and honored,'' said Thorpe. Three-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, women's pole vault champion Stacy Dragila and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams were among the six finalists along with middle distance runner Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco and cyclist Arnaud Tournant of France.

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