Miller’s injured knee puts next year in doubt
Bode Miller aggravated an injury to his left knee during training Tuesday at Are, Sweden, and whether he skis next season likely will depend on how it heals this summer.
Miller’s knee gave him problems during downhill training for the World Cup finals, where he finished 18th. He skipped the recent races in Asia.
“That’s going to be my top priority in the spring, getting that fixed up,” said Miller, who failed to win a medal in five races at the Turin Olympics. “That was a major issue all year. It’s really not that fun when you’re trying to race and train and you’re constantly dealing with an injury like that.”
The 28-year-old Miller originally hurt his knee on a jump in Beaver Creek, Colo., early this season.
•Olympic champion Anja Paerson will have arthroscopic surgery on both knees after this week’s World Cup Finals. The Swede, who is trying to win her third straight overall title, said she will have the operation in Vail, Colo. Paerson said her left knee hurts more than the right, but the source of the pain is unclear.
Iditarod sled-dog race
King aims for Nome
The sled dogs of Iditarod musher Jeff King took a last long rest on beds of straw in the sunlit village of White Mountain, Alaska, before trotting off to the finish line.
King, who is several hours ahead of second-place musher Doug Swingley, said he expected to be in Nome by Tuesday night.
“I’m a little more relaxed than I was,” King said during a mandatory 8-hour stop in White Mountain, 80 miles from Nome. “My hold on the lead is in pretty good shape now. It would take a lightning bolt or something to stop me now.”
Men’s basketball
Big Sky honors Adras
Mike Adras has been named Big Sky Conference coach of the year after guiding Northern Arizona to the regular-season title.
•Texas, Michigan State, Maryland and St. John’s have been selected as the hosts for the regional rounds of the 2006 2K Sports College Hoops Classic, a 16-team event in November that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer.
•Texas-Pan American fired coach Robert Davenport following a 7-24 season and two-year mark of 19-40.
Miscellany
Hingis tops Davenport
Martina Hingis won the latest round in a rivalry with Lindsay Davenport that stretches back more than a decade, taking a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 fourth-round victory in the Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells, Calif. The two former No. 1’s hadn’t met since 2001.
•Michelle Wie confirmed that she will play in the HSBC Women’s World Match Play Championship, joining Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer in the July 6-9 event at Hamilton Farm Golf Club in Gladstone, N.J.
•Nick Barone, 79, the “Fighting Marine” who lost a heavyweight title bout in 1950 to Ezzard Charles, died Sunday in Syracuse, N.Y.
•Sheryl Swoopes and Katie Smith will represent the U.S. team this month in a three-game European basketball tour, the second stage in evaluations for the world championships this September in Brazil.