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For the Record
Ruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, that Paul Hamm, the first American to win the men's gymnastics all-around Olympic title, will not have to return his gold medal. Bronze medalist Yang Tae Young (far right) of South Korea, who finished .049 of a point behind Hamm (center) in Athens, asked to be awarded the gold because the judges assigned his parallel bars routine a starting value that was a tenth of a point too low. The CAS rejected Young's appeal, ruling that his protest was filed too late, allowing Hamm to finally enjoy the medal--which he has kept inside a pair of socks in a drawer in his parents' home in Waukesha, Wis. "There's been a lot of fighting for this medal," Hamm, 22, said. "I feel like I've won it three times--in competition, in the media and in the court. I think it'll mean that much more that I'll be able to keep it for the rest of my life."
Formed by Kentucky basketball coach Tubby Smith and NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Joe Nemechek, a Busch Series team that will begin racing in 2005. The two will own a car driven by 34-year-old Kentucky native Jamie Mosley. Smith, whose primary role in the team will be helping procure sponsorship, was a drag racing fan as a youngster in southern Maryland, but he's never driven a race car. "I've sat in the back of a pace car and about fell out the back, that's about my extent of it," he said.
Stripped of their training jerseys by fans displeased with the quality of their play, members of the Croatian soccer club Dinamo Zagreb. The team has seven league titles since 1991 but won just three of its first 11 games this year. So on Oct. 18 about 50 members of the Bad Blue Boys, a hard-core fan club, invaded the practice pitch and demanded that the players hand over their blue jerseys, saying they weren't worthy of wearing the team colors. The players, who surrendered the gear without incident, finished training in plain shirts. The fans said the jerseys would be returned once the players showed they deserved them. They got the message: Dinamo beat Zadar 2--1 last Saturday.
Sent to season-ticket holders by the Arena Football League's Grand Rapids Rampage, who lost 15 of 16 games last year, a roll of toilet paper with 1--15 printed on each sheet. The tissue, which was mailed with ticket renewal letters, came wrapped in a message that read, "It's time to put last season behind us."
Attacked by two assailants who stabbed him and beat him with a crowbar, a Greek investigative journalist and key witness in the probe into Olympic sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou. Philippos Sirigos, the sports editor of the Athens newspaper Eleftherotypia, was attacked on the afternoon of Oct. 18 after appearing on a radio show. "This was not an attack to scare him," said the newspaper's editor, Serafim Fintanidis. "It was an assassination attempt." Sirigos, 55, gave evidence to prosecutors last month that Kenteris, winner of the 200-meter gold medal in Sydney, and Thanou, the 100-meter silver medalist in 2000, faked a motorcycle accident on Aug. 12 to avoid a doping test that day, the eve of the opening ceremonies. The findings of the probe are expected to be announced this week. Sirigos, who suffered stomach and head wounds, underwent surgery and was released from the hospital last Saturday. Greek prime minister Costas Karamanlis described the assault as an attack on "freedom of expression and journalistic investigations."
Worked Out with the Cavaliers last Thursday, former All-Star forward Jayson Williams, 36, who was acquitted in April of aggravated manslaughter charges in the 2002 shooting of his limousine driver. Williams, who retired in 2000 with chronic leg injuries, faces a January retrial on a charge of reckless manslaughter. (The jury in his original trial was hung on the charge, which could bring a prison sentence of 10 years.) Cavs coach Paul Silas stopped short of saying the team would offer him a contract, saying, "He can still play. He can certainly help somebody."
COLOR PHOTO
JOHN BIEVER (WILLIAMS)
COLOR PHOTO
KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (OLYMPIANS)
