Miscellany

Gil de Ferran overtook Jacques Villeneuve on the last lap of qualifying, winning the pole for today’s Cleveland Grand Prix at a course-record 147.512 mph.

It was the first career pole for the IndyCar rookie. He has never finished higher than eighth in 11 previous races. His speed was the fastest ever for an IndyCar road course, surpassing the mark of 146.215 set by Michael Andretti a day earlier.

In Athens, Greece, the host team won its first title in the Junior World Championships, beating Australia 91-73 before more than 20,000 spectators.

The United States routed France 92-55 in the seventh-place game to finish 4-4.

“We were disappointed that we were playing in this game, but I was proud of our kids today for not giving up and hanging tough,” said U.S. coach Kelvin Sampson, the former Washington State coach now at Oklahoma. “We ended up on a positive note. The kids played hard and they had fun out there, so hopefully we’ll take something home.”

Michael Johnson, the U.S. champion in the 200 and 400 meters, will not be given special scheduling consideration in his bid to win both races at the 1996 Olympics. Dave Maggard, managing director of sport for the Atlanta Games, said the competition schedule has been completed for all sports.