■INDY 500
Former champion crashes
Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan crashed during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday. The former IndyCar Series champion and Indy pole sitter did a 180-degree spin on the first qualifying lap, then had the car snap back around, slide up the track and hit the wall hard. Kanaan climbed out of the car without assistance. KV Racing Technology driver Mario Moraes crashed earlier in qualifying, also in the second turn, but appeared to not be seriously injured. Other drivers acknowledged the track was getting slick as they moved through the qualifying line for the first time. Qualifications will continue with the top nine cars participating in a 90-minute “shootout” to determine this year’s pole winner.
■ATHLETICS
Silver medalist banned
Jamaica’s 2001 World Championships 200m silver medalist Christopher Williams has been banned for two years, according to the IAAF Web site. Williams tested positive for an amphetamine at a meeting in Spain in July last year. Williams said on Saturday he took sleeping tablets and used an inhaler on his way to the meeting, and indicated the medications on a form filled out for doping control. He said he was disappointed with the two-year ban for a drug that wasn’t a steroid, especially since several athletes who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs got the same suspension. Williams blamed the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) for the way they handled the situation, saying they had not kept him properly informed after they learned he was to be sanctioned. Williams is the seventh Jamaican to test positive since last year. Yohan Blake, Marvin Anderson, Allodin Fothergill, Sheri-Ann Brooks and Lanceford Spence were banned last year, while Bobby-Gaye Wilkins, who tested positive at the World Indoors in March, is awaiting a ruling.
■FOOTBALL
Hall of Famer dies, 78
Stan Jones, a member of American football’s Hall of Fame, died of complications associated with heart disease at his daughter’s home in Denver, Colorado, on Friday. He was 78. Jones was not only an all-star with the Chicago Bears in the 1950s and 1960s, but he was also an innovator of weight training in the National Football League. Once his playing days were over, Jones coached for more than 20 years in the NFL, including 18 seasons with the Denver Broncos. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991. Jones is survived by his daughter, three sons and five grandchildren.
■SOCCER
Messi injury declared minor
Lionel Messi scored in practice with Argentina on Saturday, a day after he was slowed by a minor injury to his right knee in another training session. Messi notched a goal, along with two more from Carlos Tevez and another from Angel Di Maria in a training match against an Argentine youth team. On Friday, Messi collided with captain Javier Mascherano, limped off the pitch and was missing for 25 minutes before the medical staff signaled his injury was minor. Argentina faces Canada today at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires in its last tuneup before it opens against Nigeria on June 12 in the World Cup in South Africa. Messi played on Saturday for 50 minutes, seemed to move easily, and left the field without commenting to reporters. The Argentine Football Association described the injury as “minor.”
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