In Sports from United Press International
Norwegians take lead in Olympic gold
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Gerard van Velde of the Netherlands set another world record at the Utah Olympic Oval Saturday and Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won another gold medal as a state of near normalcy returned to the Winter Games.
News from the world of figure skating, however, was never far away. Skating officials announced Saturday that the gold medal approved for Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier would be awarded as part of Sunday night's ice dancing competition.
A decision to give the Canadians a second gold medal following a week-long furor over judging at the pairs event was well received around the Olympics, chiefly because it reduced the attention being given the controversy and allowed it to return to the outstanding performances being turned in throughout the region.
The decision, however, was not popular in Russia.
Russians Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze won the pairs gold medal last Monday despite a major technical flaw in the performance that skating experts felt should have relegated them to second place.
Reports soon surfaced that French judge Marie-Reine Le Gougne had admitted to being pressured to vote for the Russians as part of what turned out to be a 5-4 decision. Le Gougne was suspended from judging while the International Skating Union conducts an inquiry into the alleged competition-fixing.
As the Olympics reached their midway point Saturday, Bjoerndalen and van Velde produced performances worthy of the Games.
Van Velde set a world record of 1:07.18 to win the 1,000-meter speed skating event, edging teammate Jan Bos and American Joey Cheek--both of whom skated under the old mark.
It was the fifth speed skating final at the Olympic Oval and three of them have produced world records.
Bjoerndalen completed a sweep of the men's biathlon races. He became the first triple gold medal winner of the Olympics and the first ever to win three individual biathlon golds at the same Games. His victory came in the 12.5-kilometer pursuit. He has won five Olympic medals overall.
Other gold medals awarded during the afternoon Saturday went to Olga Pyleua of Russia in the women's biathlon pursuit and to Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway in the super giant slalom. It was Aamodt's second goal of the Olympics, following his triumph in the alpine combined last Wednesday.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Busch opener
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- The familiar car No. 3 returned to victory lane at Daytona International Speedway as Dale Earnhardt Jr. led for 62 laps and won Saturday's 300 NASCAR Busch series race.
It was the first Busch Series race for Earnhardt in three years and he won the race at the same track where his father was killed in the final lap of last year's Daytona 500.
Just like last July's Pepsi 400, Earnhardt finished in front of his Winston Cup teammate, Michael Waltrip.
Earnhardt was driving a car prepared by Richard Childress Racing--the team that his father drove for and won six of his seven NASCAR Winston Cup championships.
Earnhardt celebrated the victory by spinning out on the tri-oval grass before driving the car into victory lane at a track where his father is the all-time victory leader.
Earnhardt gambled on a fuel-only pit stop and drove the final 57 laps of the race on the same set of tires.
"I just drove as hard as I could," Earnhardt said. "I had my buddy Michael Waltrip behind me and I have to thank him for helping me today. It's hard to tell what was going on there those last few laps.
Matt Kenseth finished third in a race delayed over two hours by rain. Jason Keller was fourth followed by rookie Shane Hmiel.
McCarron has one-shot lead
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- UCLA alumnus Scott McCarron is putting the "home" course advantage to good use as he carded his second straight 6-under-par 65 Saturday to take a one-shot lead after the third round of the $3.7 Nissan Open.
McCarron, who played Riviera Country Club frequently during his college days, passed Japan's Toru Taniguchi, the surprise second-round leader, and has a 54-hole total of 14-under 199.
The 34-year-old Taniguchi, known for his fist-pumping style, remained in contention with his second straight 67 and is at 13-under. Taniguchi tied for 19th last week at the Buick Invitational in his first appearance of 2002 on the PGA Tour. While virtually unknown in the United States, he did enjoy some success on American soil last year, posting four top-10 finishes in nine events. His best result was a third at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.
Len Mattiace also shot 67 and is alone in third place at 201, one stroke ahead of Brad Faxon and Rory Sabbatini. Charles Howell III remained in contention for his first PGA Tour title by shooting a 7-under 64 -- the low round of the day--and is alone in sixth at 203. Chris DiMarco and Scott Verplank are tied for seventh, one shot ahead of David Peoples. David Duval is among six players tied for 10th at 206.
The tournament lost a bit of its luster when Tiger Woods, who grew up in Southern California, withdrew earlier this week. Woods said he has been ill for two weeks and needs some time away from the golf course. The Nissan Open was Woods' first PGA Tour event which he played as a 16-year-old amateur. It also is the only tournament he has played at least four times as a professional without winning.
Fleisher has one-shot lead
LUTZ, Fla., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Bruce Fleisher, whose practice time has been limited due to a foot injury, carded a 6-under 65 Saturday to open a one-stroke over Tom Kite after the second round of the $1.4 million Verizon Classic.
Fleisher, whose best finish this year was a tie for second at the Carribean Classic, posted his 11th straight sub-par round on the TPC of Tampa Bay course. He has a 36-hole total of 11-under 131.
Kite remained in contention with his second straight 66 and is one stroke ahead of Bruce Summerhays.
Doug Tewell is alone in fourth at 134, while first-round leader Dana Quigley and 63-year-old Mike Hill are tied for fifth at 135.
The most active player on the Senior Tour last season, Quigley settled for even par after posting a 7-under 64 on Friday. He is playing in his 156th straight tournament. Currently fifth on the money list, Quigley was fourth at the season-opening MasterCard Championship and tied for fifth last week at the ACE Group Classic.
For the first time since the event moved to the TPC of Tampa in 1992, the opening round average was below par (70.897). Doug Tewell and Bruce Leitzke shared sixth place with 67s.
The Senior Tour concludes a three-week stay in Florida this week. Next week's event is the Audi Senior Classic in Mexico City.
Venus Williams, Henin in final
ANTWERP, Belgium, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Venus Williams and Justine Henin, the top two seeds, overcame formidable foes on Saturday to advance to the final of the Proximus Diamond Games.
Top seed Williams battled through the first-set tiebreak as the American pulled away to beat third seed Amelie Mauresmo of France, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.
Second seed and local favorite Henin took advantage after Patty Schnyder of Switzerland lost her cool, rallying for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Williams, who is seeking her 23rd career title, recorded her fourth victory in as many career matches against Mauresmo. The two-time defending Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion also defeated Mauresmo in three sets in the semifinals of the Paris Indoors event last week before receiving a walkover against Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia in the final.
Mauresmo stumbled against Americans in her other two outings in 2002, falling to Jennifer Capriati in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and to Venus' sister, Serena, in the last eight at Sydney.
Henin dropped six straight games as she lost the first set. But in the fourth game of the second, Schnyder threw her racket in frustration at a disputed call. That gave the Marloie, Belgium resident the opening she needed as Henin improved to 2-0 against Schnyder.
Miami star killed in auto accident
CORAL GABLES, Fla., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Miami linebacker Chris Campbell, the third-leading tackler on the Hurricanes' national championship team last season, was killed Saturday morning in a one-car accident. He was 21. Campbell apparently lost control of the Toyota Corolla he was driving and hit a tree, according to a Coral Gables (Fla.) police spokesman.
A passenger in the car is in stable condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
Campbell had been a starter for the Hurricanes at strongside linebacker since midway through the 1999 season, starting 30 consecutive games before missing the 2002 Rose Bowl victory over Nebraska because of infection in his left knee following minor surgery.
Miami won its fifth national championship and first since 1991 this past season, finishing off a 12-0 campaign with a 37-14 rout of Nebraska on Jan. 3.
Campbell was the senior leader for Miami's young linebacker corps, recording 68 tackles, two sacks and an interception in 11 games. During his college career, Campbell played in 41 games and had 221 tackles and six sacks.
