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Sports Briefs

■ FOOTBALL

Saints star stabbed

New Orleans Saints defensive end Charles Grant was injured after being stabbed at an Atlanta night club on Saturday, US media reported. Grant, who was stabbed in the neck, was not seriously injured, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported on Sunday. Grant was stabbed during an incident that also involved the shooting death of a pregnant woman, the NFL network reported. It is not known if Grant had any connection to the shooting.

■ ATHLETICS

Maurice Greene calls it quits

Maurice Greene sprang a little surprise on Monday -- he's retiring. The former Olympic and world champion cited nagging injuries for his decision, making the announcement half way around the globe and not long after the Super Bowl had ended in Glendale, Arizona. "Today is my official day of announcing my retirement," he said in Beijing, sitting down for an interview. "You're the first I've told it to." Traveling in China inspecting Olympic facilities with a group of contenders for Olympic gold, the 33-year-old Greene said injuries forced him to retire. Coaching and business interests in the US will now be his focus. "It's a little sad for me but it's happy at the same time because I've had a great career. I've done a lot of great things," Greene said. From Kansas City, Kansas, Greene was the dominant sprinter of the late 1990s and into the new century.

■ FORMULA ONE

Star endures racist taunts

Lewis Hamilton endured racist taunts from spectators at Formula One testing, Spanish media reported on Sunday. The 23-year-old Briton, F1's first black driver, was jeered and insulted when he moved between the McLaren motorhome and the team's garage at the Montmelo circuit on Saturday. Circuit director Ramon Pradera instructed staff to erect barriers around the team's paddock for Hamilton's safety, the reports said. Banners making references to Hamilton and team boss Ron Dennis were removed while the stands directly above McLaren's garage were cleared to ensure no debris could be thrown down when the car returned to the pit lane. "We would like to make a plea to the fans to behave correctly," Pradera said. "No type of offensive behavior can be tolerated." Hamilton was widely blamed in Spain for Fernando Alonso's failure to clinch a third straight championship last season after the Spaniard joined from Renault. Alonso, who has since rejoined Renault, finished third in the drivers' standings, with rookie Hamilton finishing second.

■ OLYMPICS

Koreans resume talks

South and North Korea resumed talks yesterday on plans to send a joint supporters' squad to the Beijing Olympics by train across the heavily fortified frontier, officials said. The one-day meeting, the second of its kind, took place at Kaesong just north of the border, the South's Unification Ministry said. At a rare summit last October, leaders of the two nations agreed to send a train of supporters to the Games in August and to repair the dilapidated railway up to the North's border with China. Yoo Sang-il, an Olympic official, led South Korea's delegation. The North's was headed by Hwang Chol, a department director of the Council for National Reconciliation. A regular cross-border freight train service to a Seoul-funded industrial estate at Kaesong started in early December for the first time since the Korean War.