■ ATHLETICS
Probe outlines Jones' doping
Ledgers gathered in the BALCO steroid investigation outline the detailed doping program of disgraced sprinter Marion Jones, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Saturday. The newspaper cited court documents filed by prosecutors in New York in support of their case against Jones, who has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about her illicit drug use. The ledgers and calendars were seized in a 2003 raid of BALCO -- the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative supplement business fingered as the source of designer steroid THG. The documents detail the doping regimen Jones followed before the Sydney Olympics, where her five medals included three golds. The International Olympic Committee stripped Jones of those medals on Dec. 13, after Jones pleaded guilty in October to making two counts of false statements to federal agents.
■ CRICKET
Racists face life bans
Fans at Australia's first Test against India could be banned from the Melbourne Cricket Ground for life if they are found to be involved in racial taunting of players and other fans, Cricket Australia (CA) said yesterday. Anyone caught doing so by undercover surveillance officers would be ejected from the ground and face further action, a CA spokesman told Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper. "Our message to any mindless people who are thinking of going down that path is we won't tolerate that sort of thing," CA spokesman Peter Young told the newspaper.
■ CRICKET
England slip down rankings
England might have scrambled to a rain-affected draw against Sri Lanka on Saturday, but the result could not prevent them from slipping three places to fifth position in the ICC Test Championship table. When time was called on the match in Galle, England had battled to 251-6 thanks to 118 from Alistair Cook. But despite failing to force victory in the match, Sri Lanka took the series 1-0 and moved up to third place in the rankings. South Africa replaced England in second place ahead of their Test series against the West Indies, which starts in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday. India stayed fourth but will be hoping to improve on that position when their four-Test series with Australia also gets going on Wednesday in Melbourne.
■ SNOWBOARDING
Gimpl wins Big Air cup
Stefan Gimpl won a Big Air snowboarding World Cup event on Saturday, with overall standings leader Janne Korpi coming second. Matevz Petek, last year's winner from Slovenia, was third. "It was a great evening and a great Christmas present for me and my family," Gimpl said. The 28-year-old Austrian is second in the Big Air standings, leading Gimpl 2,200 to 2,040. Korpi, from Finland, also leads the overall standings with 3,400 points, ahead of Frenchman Mathieu Bozzetto, who has 2,950.
■ SOCCER
Jena fire coach after 96 days
In September, he was heralded as the rescuer of former East German champions Carl Zeiss Jena, but now Lithuanian coach Valdas Ivanauskas has been sacked just 96 days into the job. With Jena second from bottom of the Bundesliga's second division, Ivanauskas has been shown the door and replaced by unknown Henning Buerger as head coach. "We had a review of the first half of the season on Monday and decided to part company with Ivanauskas," Jena chairman Rainer Zipfel told German sports agency SID.
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