Athletics: Tomorrow's women's 10km road race in Milan is set to provide Sonia O'Sullivan with another significant test of form in the run-up to the Olympic Games, writes Ian O'Riordan.
The prestigious race includes Kenyan world marathon record holder Tegla Loroupe and Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu - who left O'Sullivan, among others, well in her wake when winning the World Cross-Country title in Portugal two months back. The top prize of $15,000 is likely to fall to one of these three.
Cycling: After suffering considerably with a bad stomach problem on Thursday, which almost led to his withdrawal from the race, Irish cyclist Ciaran Power fared better in yesterday's stage of the Giro d'Italia from Peschici to Vasto.
High temperatures and a headwind ensured that the 170-kilometre stage was run off at a particularly slow pace, enabling Power to recover from his illness. The 24-year-old finished with the main bunch, in the same time as stage winner Dimitri Konishev of Russia, and should be back to full strength for the first stage in the high mountains tomorrow.
The race continues today with a 171km stage from Vasto to Teramo.
Drugs In Sport: A former top East German swimmer, testifying at the trial on doping charges of two senior GDR sports officials, said yesterday she was made to take up to 30 pills a day.
"It's terrifying, what they did to us," ex-world record holder Carola Beraktschjan told a Berlin court.
Competitors testified for the first time since the trial of Manfred Ewald and Manfred Hoeppner, alleged to have played a leading role in the communist state's systematic doping policy in the 1970s and 1980s, opened on May 2nd.
"I took up to 30 pills a day," said Beraktschjan. "They always told us they were vitamins. There was no question you would not take them. You had to play by the rules."
The two accused are charged with contributing to bodily harming 142 sportswomen, mostly swimmers and athletes, by ordering them to take steroids.
Beraktschjan said that after the intake of the pills, she had put on weight and developed excessive body hair and muscles. Her voice also deepened, she said.
Former discus thrower Brigitte Michel, who also testified yesterday, said she still felt the effects of the drugs she was forced to take.
"There is not a single day without pain," she said.
Boxing: Mike Tyson will fight American Lou Savarese at Hampden Park on June 24th, promoter Frank Warren said yesterday.
Warren said he understood the opposition to the visit of convicted rapist Tyson, but insisted the fighter must be allowed to get on with his job.
Basketball: The Irish senior men made it two wins from three games at the qualifiers for the European Championships 2003 in Denmark yesterday by defeating Luxembourg 76-68.
A superb finish saw the Irish claw back a 14-point deficit in the last 10 minutes, helped significantly by the free throwing of Stephen McCarthy, the top scorer with 17 points. Next best were John O'Connell (13) and Ken Lacey (13).
