■ Supercross
Rider dies in crash
A motorcycle rider was killed during a qualifying race, flying over the handlebars and crashing while his parents watched from the stands at Qualcomm Stadium. Jason Ciarletta, 19, died Saturday at the AMA Supercross. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. There will be an autopsy Monday, the medical examiner's office said.
Ciarletta landed headfirst in the dirt and did not move as paramedics worked on him for more than 15 minutes. The death is the first in Supercross, a more compact and technically demanding hybrid of the off-road sport known as motocross. The last recorded death in American motocross was in 1975. Fewer than 2,000 people were in the stands at the time of the accident, delaying the featured event by almost an hour.
■ Soccer
Brazil misses out on berth
Brazil, who have never won an Olympic gold medal in soccer, failed to qualify for this year's Games in Athens after a shock 1-0 defeat to Paraguay on Sunday. Brazil, five times world champions, had needed only to draw against their less illustrious neighbors in their last game of the South American qualifying tournament but were instead sunk by a 32nd-minute goal scored from rival captain Jose de Vaca. Paraguay will thus join Argentina, who qualified with a game to spare, as South America's Olympic representatives. Paraguay finished the four-team final stage with six points alongside Argentina, who were playing their final game against hosts Chile later Sunday. Brazil have three points and Chile none. Brazil have always taken Olympic soccer seriously and see the gold medal as the one item missing from their trophy cupboard.
■ Olympics
Kim questioned again
Prosecutors questioned IOC vice president Kim Un-yong yesterday for a second time over allegations that he collected illicit money from former South Korean Olympic officials and embezzled funds from taekwondo organizations. Prosecutors questioned Kim last month, and initially planned to summon him for more questioning last week, but delayed it after the 72-year-old collapsed and was hospitalized. Kim, wearing a white mask and a navy blue hat, entered the Seoul District Prosecutor's Office yesterday morning. He entered the building without answering reporters' questions. Kim is South Korea's best-known sports official and a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee. He helped taekwondo become a medal sport in the Olympics in 2000. He also played a role in helping South Korea host the 1988 Summer Games. But Kim has been suspended from all Olympic duties amid corruption accusations against him in South Korea. Investigators are focusing on allegations Kim received tens of thousands of dollars from a sports equipment company while picking an official sponsor for the Korea Olympic Committee, which he headed at the time, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said, citing a prosecutor who questioned Kim yesterday.
■ Soccer
Red cards too much for ref
A Turkish league match between leader Besiktas and Samsunspor was stopped in the 85th minute on Sunday when Besiktas star Ilhan Mansiz was given the team's fifth red card. Samsunspor was leading the match 4-1 when it was stopped. The Turkish soccer federation is expected to declare Samsunspor the winner later this week. Besiktas also had Brazilian defender Carlos Antonio Zago, Ibrahim Uzulmez, Ahmet Yildirim and Daniel Pancu sent off.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB