■ Athletics
Tolossa wins in Honolulu
Ethiopia's Ambessee Tolossa won the Honolulu Marathon on Sunday in 2 hours, 13 minutes, 42 seconds. Tolossa pulled away from defending champion Jimmy Muindi at 37km and picked up his pace as he headed toward the finish line. Muindi was second in 2:14:39. Lyubov Denisova of Russia won the women's race in a course-record 2:27:19.
■ Athletics
Kahugu wins in Las Vegas
Joseph Kahugu passed fellow Kenyan Noah Talam near the 23km mark to take control of the men's race and got by female champion Jemima Jelagat with about 800m left to win the male-female challenge prize on Sunday at the Las Vegas Marathon. Kahugu won in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 16 minutes, 43 seconds to earn US$65,000, with US$50,000 coming from winning "The Challenge" and US$15,000 for finishing first in the men's race. Talam was the second male finisher. "The first half was easy," Kahugu said. "But the second half was harder for me."
■ Rugby Union
Sailor drops appeal
Australian rugby international Wendell Sailor has withdrawn his appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a two-year drugs ban. Sailor was suspended in July after a test taken in April revealed traces of cocaine. "I have decided to withdraw my appeal in the Court of Arbitration of Sport against the two-year ban imposed on me by the [Australian Rugby Union] anti-doping tribunal," Sailor said in a statement yesterday. "I cannot stress enough that I did not and would never have attempted to cheat in sport through any means. Nothing in fact would be more against my beliefs than doing so through the use of drugs," Sailor said. "Unfortunately I, like many other young Australians, fell to the off-field temptation of a so-called `party drug.'"
■ Rugby sevens
Fiji still welcome
New Zealand's ban on sporting contacts with Fiji following the military coup will not apply to the world champion sevens rugby team, Prime Minister Helen Clark said yesterday. She said any ban on the Fiji team from the Wellington round of the world sevens series would cost New Zealand its hosting rights. "There would be massive damage to Wellington, this is the single biggest event that Wellington hosts in a year as far as I'm aware," she told Television One. Opposition parties have called for New Zealand's coup sanctions to apply to the popular sevens rugby team. But Clark said the government did not ban Fiji from the sevens after the 2000 coup and was adopting the same policy this time. New Zealand has banned high-level political contact with Fiji, its soldiers are not being allowed to visit New Zealand and aid has been frozen.
■ Cricket
ESPN wins telecast rights
Sports broadcaster ESPN Star Sports has won the International Cricket Council telecast rights for an eight-year period starting next year, a news report from the Press Trust of India (PTI) said. Industry sources said ESPN will pay US$1.1 billion after outbidding Nimbus Communications, which offered US$900 million, the report said. Besides the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, the rights will cover the ICC's major tournaments such as the next four Champion's Trophy matches, Women's World Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, PTI said.
■ Tennis
Haarhuis defends title
Defending champion Paul Haarhuis beat Goran Ivanisevic on Sunday to win the BlackRock Masters, the season-ending Tour of Champions event. The 40-year-old Dutchman won the deciding tiebreaker 10-7 after winning the first set 7-6 (4) and dropping the second 7-5. Haarhuis picked up a check for US$100,000 for his second straight victory at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion, served 19 aces. Haarhuis, who came back from 5-2 down in the tiebreaker, closed out the match with his 11th ace.
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