■ Rugby league
Crowe takes charge
Actor Russell Crowe is taking a hands-on approach with his last-place Australian rugby league team. Crowe, who became a part-owner of the South Sydney Rabbitohs early last month, led the National Rugby League side in a bike ride and 10-pin bowling session yesterday. He later gave the team, which has won only one of 18 matches this season, a pep talk. South Sydney captain Peter Cusack said the Rabbitohs expected a tougher morning practice from Crowe, but that rainy weather caused a change of plans. It was the first session Crowe has led since officially taking over the club with businessman Peter Holmes a Court on June 8.
■ Athletics
Felix wins again in 200m
World champion and Olympic silver medalist Allyson Felix won her fifth straight 200m race in the Madrid meeting on Monday. The 20-year-old American crossed the line in a pedestrian 22.73 seconds, just five-hundredths of a second faster than her only other 200 in Doha in May. Felix also has the fastest time in the 100m this year. Cydonie Mothersill of the Cayman Islands was second in the 200m in 22.81, and Muna Lee of Jamaica third in 23.16.
■ Horse Racing
Arlington track examined
An independent consultant hired to examine the track surface at Arlington Park could find no explanation for a cluster of fatal breakdowns of horses there, the Illinois Racing Board said on Monday. In the first half of the four-month season, 16 horses suffered leg injuries during races that required them to be euthanized. A 17th horse was put down on Saturday after fracturing its rear right tibia. Last season, there were 12 such breakdowns. Due to the number of deaths, and the fact that no common cause has been determined, the racing board last week hired Charles E. Coon & Sons -- a company that designs, constructs and maintains tracks -- to examine the track in suburban Arlington Heights.
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