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■ CYCLING

Event canceled after threat

South Korea’s cycling governing body canceled a slew of races at its main velodrome on Sunday after receiving anonymous warnings that the venue would be blown up, officials said. The Cycle Racing Association issued an emergency notice canceling all 14 events at Gwangmyeong Speedom, the country’s main velodrome south of Seoul. It also decided not to relay by satellite link another four events taking place at a different location. The association said an unidentified person faxed and called its offices Saturday warning them to manipulate the results of weekend events or face the explosion of the main velodrome. Police searched the velodrome but found no explosives, it said.

■ SOCCER

Rangers hobble into opener

Injury-plagued Rangers tackle little FBK Kaunas in a Champions League qualifier tomorrow, but the Lithuanians’ coach admits he’ll need superhuman powers to overcome the Scottish giants. Influential defender Carlos Cuellar suffered a calf injury in Rangers’ friendly win over Raith on Saturday and will miss the first leg of the second qualifying round tie. The former Osasuna man joins skipper Barry Ferguson as well as Chris Burke and Steven Naismith on the sidelines while striker DaMarcus Beasley will be out for another two weeks with a hamstring problem.



■ OLYMPICS

Aussies expect scandals

A majority of athletes in Australia’s largest-ever Olympic team believe the Beijing Games will be tainted by drug scandals, with nearly a fifth believing an Australian could be among the cheats, a poll showed yesterday. Three in four of those surveyed, including high-profile swimming captain and two-time gold medal winner Grant Hackett, believed athletes in Beijing would be using performance-enhancing drugs, the poll in the Herald Sun newspaper showed. “We would have our heads in the sand to think the Games will be clean, and that gets my blood boiling more than anything else in sport,” Hackett told the paper before leaving.



■ SOCCER

America beats Santos 3-2

Federico Insua looked impressive in his return to Azteca Stadium and Salvador Cabanas scored twice as America defeated Santos 3-2 in the Mexican Apertura on Sunday. Insua, the Argentine midfielder who last season with a knee injury, opened the scoring in the 15th minute and his cross in the 47th led to Cabana’s first goal. Cabanas’ second strike in the 86th made it 3-0 before Santos rallied too late with goals by Juan Pablo Rodriguez from a free kick in the 87th and Agustin Herrera in injury time. Second-half goals by Ismael Iniguez and Dante Lopez enabled Pumas to down Necaxa 2-0, while Monterrey drew 2-2 at Puebla.



■ SOCCER

Hertha fans trash tram

Two officers were injured when they tried to prevent Hertha Berlin fans from vandalizing a tram, police said on Sunday. Around 250 fans broke the street car’s windows and doors after their team beat visiting fourth-tier FC Magdeburg 4-2 on Saturday. One officer was hurt on the head, the second through smoke inhalation. Damage to the tram was estimated at thousands of euros. The police didn’t make any arrests, but accompanied the fans to Berlin’s main train station. Germany’s soccer season starts in three weeks.



■ SOCCER

Souza goes to Panathinaikos

Flamengo striker Souza has moved to Greek club Panathinaikos for US$4.7 million, the Brazilian team said on Sunday. Flamengo said it will receive 60 percent of the fee. Portugal’s Maritimo, where the Brazilian striker used to play, will receive 40 percent. Souza scored 24 goals in 74 matches with Flamengo after his debut at the start of last year. Flamengo, a five-time Brazilian champion, recently also reached a deal to transfer midfielder Renato Augusto to Germany’s Bayern Leverkusen and striker Marcinho to Al-Jazira in the United Arab Emirates.



■ MARATHON

Ndereba, Tola win in NYC

Kenya’s Catherine Ndereba won the New York Half-Marathon women’s crown on Sunday, solidifying her favorite status for the Beijing Olympics marathon, while Ethiopia’s Tadesse Tola took the men’s title. Ndereba, the 2004 Olympic marathon runner-up, won the inaugural womnen’s race here in 2006 and made her move in the final mile to win the 13.1-mile race in 1hr 10mins 19secs. Mexico’s Madai Perez, 28, was second, seven seconds back, and Japan’s Yuri Kano, 29, was third, 12 seconds off the winning pace. Ndereba joined leaders Kano and Perez with four miles to go and surged ahead late.



■ ATHLETICS

Cyclist takes last spot

Nineteen-year-old road cyclist Feng Chun-kai was admitted on Thursday as the last and 80th athlete making up Taiwan’s team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Feng, who graduated from high school only last month, will be taking part in the Olympic road cycling events as a wild card, since he has not made the International Cycling Union list of road cyclists that was finalized in April. Although a wild card, Feng has performed outstandingly in many international road cycling competitions. He won the Asian Road Cycling Championship held in Thailand in September last year and was a runner up at the World Road Cycling Championship held in Manchester, England in March, said Feng’s coach, Hsu Jui-teh.



■ BADMINTON

Gold medalist falls ill

Defending Olympic badminton champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia has been hospitalized with dengue fever and is not certain to defend his title at next month’s Beijing Games. “I’m still sick, please ask the doctor,” Taufik said by telephone yesterday when asked whether he would be able to play. His manager said the 26-year-old Taufik should still make it to Beijing. “His condition now is weak but he’s getting better,” said Mulyo Handoyo. Taufik, known for his fiery outbursts on court, skipped the Indonesian national sports week this month in a bid to avoid injuries before the Olympics, which start on Aug. 8.



■ OLYMPICS

Aussies free to withdraw

Australian athletes will be allowed to withdraw from their events at the Beijing Olympic Games if pollution poses a threat to their health and safety, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said yesterday. AOC vice president Peter Montgomery said athletes had the freedom to pull out of events if pollution levels remained high but doubted whether anyone would withdraw from their events. “For us the athlete’s attitude to the event is paramount,” he told reporters. “If they don’t want to compete that is fine. They will be under absolutely no pressure to compete if they feel uneasy or don’t want to compete — we won’t be demanding that they still compete.


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