Sports Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
HOCKEY
JAGR LEADS RANGERS OVER ISLANDERS
Jaromir Jagr assisted on a pair of first-period goals and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots last night to lead the Rangers to a 3-1 victory over the Islanders.
The Rangers killed all 11 penalties called against them, and Lundqvist made a game-saving stop on Robert Nilsson’s shot with 2:19 left. The first-place Rangers (5-3-3) moved three points ahead of the third-place Islanders (5-5) in the Atlantic Division. The Islanders swept a home-and-home series from the Rangers last week, including a shootout victory at Madison Square Garden.
BRODEUR’S INJURY NOT AS SEVERE AS FEARED
Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur has a sprained knee, but is not expected to miss an extended period of time. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner was injured Wednesday night in New Jersey’s 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay. He left the game with 6:50 remaining in the third period after catching his right leg on the post and falling to the ice.
An MRI showed no damage to the knee, Devils president Lou Lamoriello said yesterday, and Brodeur’s status is day-to-day.
TRACK AND FIELD
YOUNG FORMALLY STRIPPED OF OLYMPIC GOLD
Sprinter Jerome Young was formally stripped of his relay gold medal from the 2000 Olympics yesterday for a positive doping test a year before the games.
Young was a member of the winning U.S. 1,600-meter relay squad in Sydney. He ran in the preliminaries but not the final. It was disclosed in 2003 that Young had tested positive for steroids at the U.S. nationals in 1999 but was cleared by a U.S. panel on appeal and allowed to compete in Sydney. The International Association of Athletics Federations said Young should have received a two-year ban and been ineligible for Sydney. The IAAF also said the entire U.S. team should be disqualified. In addition to Young and Johnson, the team featured Antonio Pettigrew, Angelo Taylor, and twins Alvin and Calvin Harrison.
But the Court or Arbitration for Sport ruled in July that only Young should be stripped of the medal. The IOC executive board complied with the ruling yesterday, ordering the U.S. Olympic Committee to return Young’s medal.
BASKETBALL
HILL OUT SIX WEEKS WITH SPORTS HERNIA
All-Star forward Grant Hill was expected to miss three to six weeks after he has surgery for a sports hernia. Hill, the Orlando Magic’s second-leading scorer last season, saw several specialists after he was pulled from the lineup October 19.
Last season was Hill’s best for the Magic. Finally healed from an ankle injury that kept him off the court most of the previous four seasons, he hit a career-best 50% and averaged 19.7 points – good enough for sixth All-Star game appearance.
GOLF
VAN DE VELDE PLANS TO ENTER WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN
French golfer Jean Van de Velde will attempt to enter next year’s Women’s British Open because he is upset women may qualify for the 2006 British Open. Recent policy set by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club will allow women to qualify for next year’s British Open.
“My whole point is where do we draw the line?” Van de Velde asked after shooting a 7-over-par 78 yesterday in the first round of the Volvo Masters. “If we accept that women can enter our tournaments, then it applies that men can play with women.”
The 39-year-old Frenchman said he would get an application and attempt to qualify. The Women’s British Open is run by the Ladies’ Golf Union, which established a gender policy this year that says: “It shall be a condition of any competition organized by the Ladies’ Golf Union that players must be of the female gender.”
“I just don’t understand it, and if my application is not accepted I will definitely get advice and see how far it will go,” Van de Velde said. “I am making a point. I’m not trying to take a sexist stance.”
– Associated Press