Sports Briefs: French doping agency wants Armstrong's 1999 urine samples to be tested

PARIS -- The French anti-doping authority has proposed that cyclist Lance Armstrong agree to have his urine samples from 1999 retested to see if a French newspaper was right when it reported that they contained traces of EPO, a banned blood-boosting hormone that enhances endurance.

A positive test from the samples could not lead to a ban that would thwart Armstrong's return to cycling after three years in retirement. Too much time has passed for disciplinary measures to be taken and only part of Armstrong's samples were kept.

Even so, the proposal renews debate about one of the most contested questions surrounding Armstrong -- whether he was clean when he won seven Tour de France titles. He has always insisted that he was, and his new team, Astana, is hiring a drug-testing expert for his comeback to try to silence doubters.

In a statement, the agency proposed that Armstrong "prove his good faith" by agreeing to retesting of his samples from the 1999 Tour, the first of his seven wins. The agency said it was acting in the interests "of objectivity and of justice and to allow the cyclist Lance Armstrong to cut short the rumors concerning him, if they are unfounded."

Mark Higgins, an Armstrong spokesman, did not respond to an e-mail sent by The Associated Press.

In drug testing, urine is divided into "A" and "B" samples, and both must show traces of a banned substance for the test to be declared positive. Only remains from six "B" samples have been kept from Armstrong's 1999 Tour, and there are no "A" samples left against which to compare results.

Basketball

■ The Sacramento Kings hired Shareef Abdur-Rahim as an assistant coach yesterday, a week after Abdur-Rahim, a veteran forward, retired because of a persistent knee injury.

Abdur-Rahim, 31, will join Coach Reggie Theus' staff after missing most of last season because of knee problems. Abdur-Rahim retired Sept. 22, shortly before the start of his 13th NBA season.

Abdur-Rahim played for Vancouver, Atlanta, Portland and Sacramento during his career, making one All-Star team and winning an Olympics gold medal for the American team in 2000.

■ Portland center Greg Oden is OK after rolling his right ankle during the first day of training camp.

Oden, who missed all of his rookie season because of knee surgery, was injured Tuesday during a drill while pushing fellow center Joel Przybilla for rebounding position.

After walking with a slight limp, he finished practice by riding a stationary bike.

■ The Golden State Warriors plan to meet with the representative for point guard Monta Ellis next week to discuss any potential disciplinary action or fine because of his moped-related ankle injury.

Ellis signed a new six-year, $66 million contract in July, then injured his left ankle in August in a low-speed moped crash -- an offseason activity prohibited in his new contract as is a standard provision for contracts around the league.

Ellis will miss training camp and at least several weeks of the regular season after hurting himself in his native Mississippi.

To give themselves some insurance in the backcourt, Golden State signed Dan Dickau yesterday and Coach Don Nelson plans to carry three point guards on his roster -- at least until Ellis returns to take one of those roster places.

Hockey

■ The International Ice Hockey Federation has ruled that Russian forward Alexander Radulov was wrong to sign for a club in his home country while under contract with the Nashville Predators, but he won't be suspended. The IHF says it has no legal basis to suspend him from playing because there is no agreement in place to regulate international transfers.

■ The Los Angeles Kings acquired defenseman Sean O'Donnell from the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, receiving a conditional selection in the 2009 NHL Draft in return.

O'Donnell, 36, played for the Kings from 1994-2000. Heading into his 14th NHL season, he has appeared in a combined 932 games with Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, Boston, New Jersey and Minnesota.

Miscellaneous

■ Brian Loftin of Lexington will try to wrap up his first championship in NASCAR's Whelen Southern Modified Tour on Saturday night in a season-ending 150-lap race at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro.

Loftin leads Tim Brown of Cana, Va. -- the winner of two of the last three tour races -- by 35 points heading into the season finale. L.W. Miller of Mooresville, the defending tour champion, is third in the standings, 67 points behind Loftin.

Tommy Bowman

■ Roger Federer has withdrawn from next week's Stockholm Open, saying he needs to rest before starting his quest to reclaim the top spot in the world tennis rankings. Federer said in a statement on his Web site yesterday that he had been playing catch-up all year after finding out at the start of the year that he had mononucleosis.

"I feel fortunate to be healthy again, but I want to remain at the top of the game for many more years to come and go after the No. 1 ranking again," Federer said.

■ Forward Jaime Moreno of D.C. United will be suspended for two games for hitting midfielder Andre Rocha of FC Dallas in the face during a game Sunday. Moreno was issued a red card, which results in an automatic one-game suspension and $250 fine, and Major League Soccer's disciplinary committee suspended him another game and fined him an additional $250 yesterday.

■ Ted Freshwater of Advance defeated Derrick Grantham of Asheboro to win the 65-70 age group title in racquetball at the N.C. Senior Olympic Championships in Raleigh. It was the 14th Senior Games title for Freshwater, who will again represent North Carolina at the National Senior Olympic in San Francisco.