Bomb Ruins Stockholm Olympic Bid

The fading hopes of Stockholm to hold the 2004 Olympics were dealt a devastating blow Friday when a bomb destroyed sections of the stadium left over from Summer Games of 1912. The predawn blast at the Olympic Stadium was the latest in a series of attacks linked to the city’s Olympic bid.

Police said no one was hurt in the explosion, which sprayed glass, roof tiles and debris from the press section of the facility--the world’s oldest Olympic stadium still in regular use. It was there, 85 years ago, that Jim Thorpe was declared the world’s greatest athlete after winning the decathlon.

Sweden’s SVT public television network reported that police “are convinced that the attack is directed against Sweden’s Olympic bid.”

The bombing took place the same day that Mayor Mats Hulth was showing several International Olympics Committee members around the city.

Tennis

Top seeded Pete Sampras needed only 53 minutes to defeat No. 7 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the ATP championship in Mason, Ohio. Fifth-seeded Thomas Muster needed 2 hours 43 minutes to oust unseeded Jan Siemerink, 6-7 (1-7), 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5).

Jurisprudence

Convicted sports fixer Richard Perry, whose hot-tub pictures with Nevada Las Vegas basketball players preceded coach Jerry Tarkanian’s resignation, was sentenced in Las Vegas to 15 months in prison for income tax evasion. Perry was also fined $30,000 and ordered to pay retroactive taxes for $650,000 in gambling income he failed to report from 1989 to 1991.

Speaking publicly for the first time since his dismissal at Boston College last November, former football player Jamall Anderson told the Tampa Tribune that he and teammates had bet on sports, and that the coaching staff was aware of players’ gambling.

In November, District Attorney Tom Reilly of Middlesex County in Massachusetts determined that Anderson and Marcus Bembry had placed bets of $200 and $250 that Boston College wouldn’t cover the point spread against Syracuse.

Anderson, however, insists that he never bet against his team and was unaware of any teammates betting against the Eagles. Players bet on college football, pro football and baseball, he said.

An appeals court in West Palm Beach, Fla., will review whether a trial judge was justified in overturning the verdict of a jury that convicted Seattle Seahawk receiver Brian Blades of manslaughter. Blades was charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence after his cousin, Charles Blades, was shot at Brian’s condominium in July 1995.

Jermaine O’Neal, the Portland Trail Blazers’ teenage center who had a summer brush with the law, says he will probably talk to school groups to work off his 100 hours of community service. O’Neal registered for his sentence in Columbia, S.C., where he was arrested in June for cursing at officers and mall security guards. He returned to Columbia after playing in a Los Angeles summer league.

Motor Racing

Todd Bodine shocked his NASCAR Winston Cup competitors by winning the pole for Sunday’s Bud at the Glen road race in Watkins Glen, N.Y., with a fast lap of 120.505 mph in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. It was his first Winston Cup pole.

Dale Jarrett was second at 120.405 in a Ford, followed at 120.403 by the Chevy of Dale Earnhardt. Jeff Gordon, who leads in the driver standings, was 11th at 120.046.

Bryan Herta broke the Mid-Ohio track record in the first day of qualifying for the Miller 200 CART Indy car race with a lap of 122.649 mph, bettering the mark of 122.100 set last year by Alex Zanardi. Second in provisional qualifying over the 13-turn, 2 1/4-mile road course was defending champion Zanardi, with a lap of 122.601.

Soccer

Jen Streifer’s goal in the 16th minute of overtime earned the United States’ under-20 women’s national team a 1-0 victory over Norway and the championship of the Nordic Cup tournament. En route to the title in the eight-nation tournament in Korsor, Denmark, the U.S. team shut out Sweden, 3-0, and Iceland, 4-0, and defeated Denmark, 3-1.

Napoli of Italy, the former club of Diego Maradona that recently signed his 10-year-old son, Diego Jr., to a contract, will play Chivas of Guadalajara as part of a doubleheader at the Los Angeles Coliseum on Wednesday night. The preliminary game pits Alianza FC of El Salvador against Comunicaciones of Guatemala.

Telstar of Amsterdam fired four players who allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old girl during a preseason training camp. The girl did not report the incident to police and there have been no criminal charges filed. The legal age of consent in the Netherlands is 16. . . . Zimbabwean goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar was cleared in Winchester, England, of fixing games.

Amateur Basketball

The U.S. women’s team routed Canada, 85-66, in the world championship qualifying tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The victory gave the U.S. a 3-0 record and assured the women a berth in the world finals next year in Berlin.

The U.S. hopes of repeating as champion of the men’s 22-and-under world tournament were dashed when host Australia handed the Americans an 81-63 loss in Melbourne. Pat Garrity of Notre Dame had 19 points and 11 rebounds, but the U.S. was eliminated from any chance of a medal.

Names in the News

The Detroit Pistons re-signed guard Lindsey Hunter to a multiyear contract, one day after freeing money under the salary cap by trading power forward Otis Thorpe to Vancouver. . . . Mississippi State football star Keffer McGee had a heart problem that went undetected before his drowning death, an autopsy revealed. Oktibbeha County Coroner Michael Hunt said the heart condition probably contributed to 22-year-old player’s death in an apartment complex pool Tuesday at Starkville, Miss.

Joe Thornton, the NHL’s No. 1 overall draft pick, signed an incentive-laden deal with the Boston Bruins that could be worth as much as $3 million a year. . . . Center Derek Plante and defenseman Darryl Shannon, both restricted free agents, agreed to terms with the Buffalo Sabres.