■ Rugby Union
Jason Robinson injures neck
England winger Jason Robinson suffered a neck injury in training on Wednesday, prompting coach Brian Ashton to call up uncapped David Strettle as cover for tomorrow's Six Nations match against Ireland. Robinson, who scored three tries in England's opening two victories, could be doubtful for the Croke Park showdown which would be a major blow for the world champions given his form since coming out of international retirement this season.
■ Boxing
US turns away Cubans
Three Olympic champion Cuban boxers who defected and signed seven-figure contracts with a German promoter have been refused entry to the US, their manager said on Wednesday. Heavyweight Odlanier Solis, flyweight Yan Bhartelemy and featherweight Yuriorkis Gamboa were scheduled to make their professional debuts in Miami, Florida, today, but the fights were postponed a week, said Antonio Gonzalez, their Miami-based manager and attorney. He said the US Department of Homeland Security approved entry for the three but consular officials at the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, would not grant them visas.
■ Baseball
Tomo Ohka finally arrives
Tomo Ohka arrived at the Toronto Blue Jays' training camp in Dunedin, Florida, on Wednesday, five days after the voluntary reporting date, because of visa problems. Ohka agreed last month to a US$1.5 million, one-year contract after going 4-5 with a 4.82 ERA in 18 starts for the Milwaukee Brewers last year. "I'm a bit sleepy. Right now it's 2am in Japan. The trip was 15 hours," Ohka said.
■ Skiing
Six athletes suspended
The International Ski Federation announced yesterday that six athletes were given five-day suspensions at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo, Japan, because of high hemoglobin levels. The high hemoglobin levels were detected in pre-competition blood testing. The six athletes are suspended from competition for the first five days of the event but can compete in the Feb. 22-March 4 meet if they clear a second test, the federation said. The Nordic world championships were to begin later yesterday with the men's and women's cross-country sprint races at Sapporo Dome. The six athletes are Russians Voronin Konstantin and Dmitry Matveev and Italian Jochen Strobl in Nordic combined, along with cross-country skiers Alen Abramovic of Croatia, Sergei Dolidovich of Belarus and Reto Burgermeister of Switzerland.
■ Cycling
Voight wins San Jose stage
Jens Voight of Germany outsprinted race leader Levi Leipheimer to win the third stage of the Tour of California on Wednesday. Voight, the CSC rider who won the Tour of Germany last year and also took a stage of the Tour de France last year, finished the 152km from Stockton to San Jose, California, in three hours, 43 minutes and 44 seconds. Leipheimer, riding for Discovery Channel, gained six bonus seconds for finishing second and extended his race lead to three seconds. Voight, who gained 10 seconds for the win, also gained three bonus seconds earlier in the stage to move into second place overall. Christopher Horner of Predictor-Lotto was third in the stage and moved into third overall, 15 seconds behind.
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