Blood tests at London Marathon
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See the article in its original context from November 2001.
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LONDON (AP) — Blood tests will be carried out for the first time at next year's London Marathon, which has assembled "the greatest men's field ever" for any marathon, organizers said Monday.
The blood tests are being introduced in a bid to detect the use of the banned drug erythropoietin, or EPO, a synthetic hormone which improves endurances by increasing the level of oxygen-carry red blood cells.
"Every athlete contracted to run in London has been informed that blood testing will happen and, without exception, the athletes have welcomed our initiative," race director David Bedford said.
Marathon organizers will fund the tests, which will be carried out by UK Sport.
Bedford also confirmed the men's field for the April 14 race.
Last week, organizers announced that Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, the four-time world champion at 10,000 meters and two-time Olympic gold medalist, would make his marathon debut in London.
He will be joined by Khalid Khannouchi, the Moroccan-born American who holds the marathon world record (2:05.42); defending champion
Abdelkader El Mouaziz of Morocco; three-time London champion Antonio Pinto of Portugal, and Olympic bronze medalist Tesfaye Tola of Ethiopia.
Also entered are newly crowned New York champion Tesfaye Jifar of Ethiopia; Paul Tergat of Kenya, who finished second in Lon-
don in his marathon debut last year; world bronze medalist Stefano Baldini of Italy, and William Kiplagat of Kenya. The lineup provides another matchup between Gebrselassie and Tergat, who have been rivals on the track for years.
Tergat edged Gebrselassie to win gold in the 10,000 in Sydney.
Hewitt, Agassi advance
Australia (AP) - Lleyton Hewitt overcame Sebastien Grosjean and Andre Agassi steamrolled Pat Rafter as the world's second- and third-ranked players closed the gap on No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the opening matches of the seasonending Tennis Masters Cup.
Hewitt revived his charge for the top ranking when he rallied from a set down Monday to beat Grosjean 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 at Sydney's SuperDome.
Agassi, who finished
No. 1 in 1999 and led the 2001 Champions Race for 24 weeks, then beat Rafter 6-2, 6-4 in 1 hour and 13 minutes.
The American trailed 0-2 after dropping his opening service game but stormed back to win six consecutive games and take the first set in 27 minutes.
He faltered after breaking Rafter to go 2-1 in the second, dropping his own serve and then having to save two break points to draw level at 3-3.
After giving the No. 6-ranked Rafter a rare breakpoint chance with a long forehand, the usually cool Agassi swatted the ball into the crowd in frustration.
But he regained his composure to win three of the next four games and serve out to love when the Australian put a backhand return into the net.
The winner of the ATP Champions Race will be decided at the Masters Cup for the second successive year.
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Vaas extracted good pace and induced an edge from Gayle to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara.
He earlier came close to dismissing opener Daren Ganga in the first over with a full length in-swinger that narrowly missed the stumps. Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya introduced spin early when he brought in Muttiah Muralitharan.
But it was Vaas who struck again as he dismissed Daren Ganga caught by Mahela Jayawardene for 47.
Lara joined Ramnaresh Sarwan and the two scored their half-centuries by keeping Sri Lanka's spinners at bay. The 21-year-old Sarwan scored 88 off 213 balls before being bowled by Muralitharan. Lara swept Muralitharan for his first boundary. He showed perfect footwork against the spinners bowlers, twice lifting left-armer Sanath Jayasuriya to the boundary.
Lara reached his half-century when he drove Jayasuriya for four to cover. He survived a chance on 30 when wicketkeeper Sangakkara failed to snap a difficult catch off Jayasuriya.
Sri Lankan skipper Jayasuriya used as many as six bowlers plus himself in a desperate attempt to dismiss Lara.
West Indies went into the test match with two spinners_left-arm spinner Neil McGarrell and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine hoping to extract some help from the turning pitch. Indisposed fast bowler Reon King helped solve the selection dilemma for skipper Hooper.
Sri Lanka inducted debutante fast bowler Buddhika Fernando in its playing eleven.
Sri Lanka has not won a test against the West Indies, but this southern port city has been a happy hunting
Nebraska holds first place
NEW YORK (AP) Nebraska won big, Miami didn't, but both unbeaten teams remained on course to play for a national championship in the Rose Bowl.
The Cornhuskers held first place and the Hurricanes were second in the Bowl Championship Series standings released Monday, with third-place Oklahoma gaining ground on Miami.
ground for the home team.
Sri Lanka has won four out of the six tests it has played at Galle, including the last three.
drugs & sport
Lleyton Hewitt
