A roundup of the week July 25-31

CYCLING—VIKTOR KUPOVETS of the Soviet Union broke Harold Wolff's 3-year-old record in the 4,000 meters individual pursuit category by four seconds with a clocking of 4:37.68, in Moscow.

GOLF—JAN STEPHENSON shot a six-over-par 290 to take the $32,780 winner's check in the U.S. Women's Open by one stroke over JoAnne Carner and Patty Sheehan, in Tulsa (page 30).

John Cook dropped an 8-foot putt on the sixth playoff hole to beat Johnny Miller in the Canadian Open in Oakville, Ontario and collect the $63,000 winner's check. Both players finished the 72 holes of regulation play at 277, seven under par.

Billy Casper won the U.S. Senior Open at Chaska, Minn., his birdie-putt 3 beating Rod Funseth on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. Casper and Funseth were tied at 288 after the regulation 72 holes, and both shot 75s in their scheduled 18-hole playoff.

HORSE RACING—ISLAND WHIRL ($4.60), Eddie Delahoussaye aboard, nosed out Bold Style to win the $173,100 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga. The 5-year-old colt ran the 1‚⅛ miles in 1:48[2/5].

Deputed Testamony ($9.60), Herb McCauley up, came from last place to beat Bet Big by a neck in the $200,000 Amory L. Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. The 1983 Preakness champion ran the 1‚⅛ miles in 1:49[1/5].

Craelius ($10.60), ridden by Chris McCarron, beat Palikaraki by a neck to win the $227,600 Sunset Handicap at Hollywood Park. The 4-year-old colt ran the 1½ miles on the turf in 2:26[2/5].

MOTORCYCLING—Three-time world champion rider KENNY ROBERTS, on a 500 cc. Yamaha, won the British Grand Prix, finishing 4.11 seconds ahead of Freddie Spencer. Roberts completed the 28 laps of the 2.937-mile Silverstone course in 42:10.07. Six laps into the race, Peter Huber of Switzerland and Norman Brown of Northern Ireland crashed and subsequently died.

MOTOR SPORTS—DALE EARNHARDT, in a Ford, rode the bumper of Darrell Waltrip's Chevrolet until the last lap, and then passed him to win the $373,110 Talladega 500 by half a car length. Earnhardt averaged 170.611 mph around the 2.66-mile Alabama International Motor Speedway tri-oval.

Mario Andretti, driving a Lola-Cosworth, finished one lap ahead of Al Unser Jr. in an Eagle-Cosworth, to win a $250,000, 200-mile Indy car race in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Andretti averaged 99.410 mph around the Road America four-mile course.

SOCCER—NASL: It was a week for streaks. Chicago beat the Cosmos 2-1, the Windy City's third straight over the Cosmos this season. Dave Huson's goal with 10 minutes to play gave Coach Willy Ray his 100th regular-season win with Chicago. Still, the Cosmos held first place in the Eastern Division by 16 points, while Chicago was third behind Toronto. Southern Division-leader Fort Lauderdale lost 3-0 to San Diego, which then made it five wins in a row by beating Tampa Bay 2-0. The Rowdies were on a streak of a different sort, having lost four straight. Fort Lauderdale rallied to beat Golden Bay 3-1 on Forward Brian Kidd's two goals and stay two points ahead of second-place Tulsa. In the Western Division, Vancouver Goalie Tino Littieri's five saves gave the Whitecaps a 1-0 shootout win over Team America. Vancouver then lost to Tulsa 2-1 but led second-place Golden Bay by 41 points.

STEEPLECHASING—THRICE WORTHY ($3.40), ridden by John Cushman, beat Bomb by half a length to win the $43,000 Lovely Night Handicap at Saratoga. The 7-year-old gelding cleared the 11 jumps on the 2[1/16]-mile course in 3:41[2/5].

TENNIS—JOSE-LUIS CLERC beat Jimmy Arias 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in a $200,000 event in Washington, D.C.

Brad Drewett beat John Alexander 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 for the $15,000 winner's check in a South Orange, N.J. tournament.

TRACK & FIELD—JARMILA KRATOCHVILOVA of Czechoslovakia ran the women's 800 meters in 1:53.28 to break Nedyezhda Olizaryenko's 1980 world record by .15 second, in Munich.

Mary Decker broke her American record in the 1,500 meters by 2.31 seconds with a time of 3:57.12, in Stockholm; five days later, Decker ran a 1:57.60 at Gateshead, England to break by .3 second the American 800-meter record set by Madeline Manning in 1976 (page 28). JIM HEIRING broke Marco Evaniuk's U.S. mark in the 10,000-meter walk by 34.6 seconds with a 41:07.91, in Stockholm.

East Germany's 4 X 100-meter women's relay team of SILKE GLADISCH, MARITA KOCH, INGRID AUERSWALD and MARLIES GOHR broke the world record, set by East Germany in 1980, by .07 second with a clocking of 41.53, in Berlin.

MILEPOSTS—APPROVED: By the NHL, for $12 million, the sale of the St. Louis Blues to a consortium of businessmen headed by Californian HARRY ORNEST, 59.

CANCELED: A $15 million offer by STEVE BELKIN, 36, to purchase the Boston Celtics from Harry Mangurian, by mutual agreement, when it was disclosed that a former business associate of Belkin's had been convicted of kidnapping and bookmaking, and is currently under investigation in a federal gambling probe.

NULLIFIED: The July 23 trade of Cornerback Pat Thomas from the Rams to the Raiders for Corner-back Monte Jackson, after Thomas failed his physical because of a knee injury.

SUSPENDED: By NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, without pay, through the fourth game of the 1983 season, for their participation in illegal activities involving cocaine—Cincinnati Running Back PETE JOHNSON, 29, and Defensive End ROSS . BROWNER, 29; St. Louis Linebacker E.J. JUNIOR, 23; and New Orleans Cornerback GREG STEMRICK,31.

TRADED: By the NASL's San Diego Sockers, Defender GORDON DALLAS, 24, to Fort Lauderdale for a 1983 draft choice; by the Toronto Blizzard, Midfielder ARNO STEFFENHAGEN, 33, to Vancouver for cash.