■ Rugby Union
Smith to captain Australia
Flanker George Smith will captain Australia for the first time in their European tour opener against Neath-Swansea Ospreys in Swansea tomorrow. "Smithy will be captain. He's an experienced player. I think he deserves it and he's responded very well," Wallabies coach John Connolly told reporters in Cardiff. The 26-year-old ACT Brumbie has played 69 Tests and will be the 74th player to have captained the Australian national side. "It's the first time I've been captain in my professional career, so it's a great honor," Smith said. Australia play four Tests on their tour of Europe starting against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
■ Soccer
Firefighter injured at match
A firefighter lost two fingers on Sunday when a homemade bomb exploded in his hand after he picked up the device, apparently thrown from the crowd at the Nice-Marseille French league game. "It was a homemade bomb," Nice security director Andre Bloch said. "The fire officer thought it was a flare. So, he picked it up to place it in a bucket of water ... and it exploded in his hand." Marseille fans were detained for two hours after the match while police with sniffer dogs conducted extensive searches. Each fan was asked to provide proof of identification. "It is a deplorable incident," Nice president Maurice Cohen said.
■ Soccer
President wants team KOed
The president of Serie A club Livorno says he hopes his team gets knocked out of the UEFA Cup soon so they can focus on their domestic campaign. After Sunday's disappointing goalless draw with Empoli, Livorno owner Aldo Spinelli questioned coach Daniele Arrigoni's decision not to play a weakened side in the UEFA Cup this season. "I don't want to criticize Arrigoni but the fact is that we don't have the strength to play in both the UEFA Cup and Serie A. I hope will be out of Europe soon," Spinelli told Italy's Sky Sport television.
■ Skiing
Bjorgen wins second sprint
Marit Bjorgen of Norway won her second sprint on Sunday at a cross-country skiing World Cup race in Germany. Bjorgen, who won the individual sprint on Saturday, combined with Ella Gjomle to win the women's 6x0.8km freestyle team sprint race for Norway in 10 minutes, 50.1 seconds. Bjorn Lind and Peter Larsson of Sweden captured the men's 6x1.5 event in 19:52.4. Organizers called the crowd of 350,000 for the World Cup season opener a record for the sport. Held in the city center instead of the woods, the artificial snow track for the event was built along a river bank.
■ Running
Ongeri wins in Detroit
Kenya's Josephat Ongeri won the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon on Sunday, beating last year's champion Andrei Gordeev of Belarus by four seconds. Ongeri, the 26-year-old runner who was not on the organizers' invitation list and paid his own way to Detroit, finished in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds. He earned US$5,000 for his first career victory after finishing second in three previous marathons. Elena Orlova, a 36-year-old Russian who lives in the US, took the women's race for the second time in three years, finishing in 2:41:26.
■ Running
Man dies in Corps marathon
An unidentified man collapsed more than halfway through the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington and died on Sunday and another runner had a heart attack near the starting line. The race featured 32,118 runners and was won by Ruben Garcia, a corporal in the Mexican Navy, and US runner Laura Thompson. The man who died collapsed before reaching the 27km mark near the 14th Street Bridge and was airlifted by helicopter to Washington Hospital Center, race spokesman Beth Cline said. It appears he had a heart attack, District of Columbia Police spokesman Sergeant Joe Gentile said.
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