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Sports Briefs: Chinese gymnastics group investigating age questions
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Published: October 8, 2008
BEIJING -- International gymnastics officials aren't the only ones who want more information on two members of China's 2000 Olympics team.
The Chinese Gymnastics Association is doing its own investigation into the ages of Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, spokeswoman Zhou Qiurui said yesterday. New information suggests that the two could have been as young as 14 at the Sydney Olympics, where China won the bronze medal.
Gymnasts must be 16 during the Olympics year to compete.
Zhou declined further comment and referred questions to another member of the association, who was not available. But, Zhou added, the association relies on local authorities for information about its athletes.
Questions about Dong and Yang's ages surfaced during an investigation into China's gold-medal squad from the Beijing Olympics. Although the International Gymnastics Federation cleared the 2008 squad last week, it said it still had questions about Dong and Yang and "does not consider the explanations and evidence provided to date in regards to these athletes as satisfactory."
Dong's accreditation information for the Beijing Olympics, where she worked as a national technical official, listed her birthday as Jan. 23, 1986. That would have made her 14 in Sydney. Her birth date in the FIG database is listed as Jan. 20, 1983. Yang, who won a bronze medal on uneven bars in Sydney, said in a June 2007 interview that aired on state television that she was 14 in Sydney but later told the AP that she misspoke.
Basketball
■ UNC Charlotte received a commitment Monday from Chris Braswell, one of the nation's top high-school power forwards. The Charlotte Observer reported that the 6-8, 230-pound Braswell, who attends Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., committed after an official visit.
"Chris felt there was a good opportunity at Charlotte to build a good relationship with the coaching staff. Secondly, he liked the way Charlotte allows its power forwards to utilize their versatility," said Keith Stevens, Braswell's AAU coach.
Stevens said that Braswell had offers from Xavier, Indiana, Maryland and Virginia Tech. Braswell is ranked as the 78th best senior and the 22nd best power forward in the country by the recruiting Web site Rivals.com.
■ The Orlando Magic picked up its $2.8 million option on J.J. Redick, a former Duke star, for next season.
Redick has struggled to play his way into the backcourt rotation and last season asked for a trade. He was the first guard off the bench in the Magic's loss to Atlanta in the preseason opener Monday, scoring 12 points, and drew praise from Coach Stan Van Gundy for his play in practices.
Redick, the team's first-round pick in 2006, originally signed a two-year deal with two one-year options. He's making $2.1 million this season.
■ The Charlotte Bobcats' front-office turnover continued yesterday with the team announcing that Jared Bartie, the chief administration officer, and LaRita Barber, the vice president of community relations, left to take new jobs.
The departures come two weeks after the team laid off dozens of employees in the marketing and business departments because of the slumping economy. Greg Economou, the chief marketing officer, left the organization last month.
Bartie, who took over many of Economou's duties, is leaving for World Wrestling Entertainment. Barber is taking a job with Goodwill Industries in Charlotte.
Bobcats owner Bob Johnson has lost millions since paying $300 million for the expansion franchise, which began play in the 2004-05 season.
■ Stacy Elizabeth Beshear of El Segundo, Calif., has been charged with stalking forward Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers. She was arrested Sept. 18 after she pulled up to his car and pretended to fire gunshots at him with her hand, police Sgt. Steve Tobias said.
Beshear, 34, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor count of stalking. A Nov. 6 trial date has been set, and she faces up to a year in county jail if convicted, a spokeswoman for the district attorney said yesterday.
Walton said that Beshear has been harassing him since late last year. He told the Orange County Register that she waited outside his Manhattan Beach home numerous times and wrote on his car with a marker after he refused to sign an autograph.
■ Dom Rosselli, the winningest basketball and baseball coach at Youngstown State, has died. He was 93.
The university said Rosselli died yesterday morning.
Rosselli totaled 1,000 career wins in the two sports over 38 years. He also served as an assistant football coach for 21 years.
Rosselli is survived by his wife, Connie, four children and several grandchildren.
Hockey
■ The Carolina Hurricanes have sent three more players -- forwards Joe Jensen and Trevor Gillies and defenseman Tim Conboy -- to their top minor-league affiliate in Albany.
That left the team with 25 players on the roster three days before the regular-season opener against Florida.
■ The Calgary Flames put veteran defensemen Rhett Warrener and Anders Eriksson and forward Jamie Lundmark on waivers yesterday to get below the salary cap. The three are headed to the Flames' AHL affiliate in the Quad Cities unless claimed off waivers by another club or traded.
Warrener and Eriksson have one-way contracts, and reassigning the three puts Calgary's payroll $2 million below the $56.7-million cap. The Flames would have to pay Warrener's $2.5-million contract and Eriksson's $1.5-million contract even if they're in the minors.
■ Alex Ovechkin left practice early yesterday, but Ovechkin, the reigning NHL MVP, is expected to play in the Washington Capitals' season opener Friday at Atlanta.
Ovechkin skated off the ice at the team's home arena after less than 15 minutes.
"He'll be OK. He'll be playing Friday," Coach Bruce Boudreau said at the Capitals' annual media-day event. "You know, it's nothing serious at all, but, I mean, it would be prudent for me not to say why he went off."
Another Capitals forward, Alexander Semin, also missed practice time yesterday -- and also is in the team's plans for Game 1.
■ Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin is expected to start the regular season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Khabibulin, 35, had seemed destined to be sent to the minors, traded or opt to play in his native Russia by the time the Blackhawks open their regular season Friday night in New York against the Rangers.
But yesterday, Khabibulin was on General Manager Dale Tallon's final roster heading into the regular season.
NHL teams must submit rosters to the league by 3 p.m. today.
Khabibulin, a goalie who didn't appear in any of Chicago's eight preseason games, is entering the final year of a four-year contract that is set to pay him $6.75 million this season.
Miscellaneous
■ Benjamin Schlottman of Advance shot 76-78-154 to win the 12-13 boys title in last weekend's North State Junior Golf Championship at Wilson Country Club. Also, Zach Brown of Bermuda Run won the 7-under boys division (89-88-177), and Christian Hawley of Kernersville was fourth in the 16-18 boys division (74-75-149).
■ The Canadian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2009 Formula One calendar, leaving North America without an F1 race. Governing body FIA ratified its calendar for the next season yesterday and left the Canadian GP off the list for the first time since 1987.
The inaugural Abu Dhabi GP will replace the Canadian race. The United States GP was dropped from the F1 schedule last season.
■ Greek hurdler Fani Halkia blamed a "malicious act" by unspecified people for a failed doping test that ruled her out of the Beijing Olympics and insisted yesterday that she never intentionally used banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Halkia, who won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, was expelled from the Beijing Games after testing positive for the steroid methyltrienolone. The out-of-competition test was administered Aug. 10 in Japan, and she was the 15th Greek athlete caught using the steroid this year.
■ The German cycling federation has started proceedings aimed at banning Stefan Schumacher after confirming yesterday that Schumacher, a Tour de France stage winner, tested positive for blood doping before and during this year's Tour. The federation said it would pursue "the longest possible ban," two years.
Gerolsteiner, which had suspended Schumacher on Monday, said that blood samples taken from the rider July 3 and July 15 tested positive for CERA, an advanced version of the blood booster EPO, according to documents provided by the federation. The cycling federation said that Schumacher had five days from receiving official notification of the positive test to give a statement or ask for a B sample test.
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