Slalom Is Won Again by Nowen

Ylva Nowen of Sweden earned her third consecutive slalom victory on Sunday, defeating American Kristina Koznick by one-tenth of a second at Lienz, Austria.

Nowen trailed Koznick by .12 seconds after the 58-gate first run, but came up with a strong second run. Nowen had a combined time of 1 minute 37.33 seconds.

Koznick’s second place was her best career finish and the best result for an American skier this season.

“I am not disappointed, because my goal was to finish in the top three,” Koznick said. “It’s a tough position to be in after the first run and I am proud of myself that I hung in there in the second.”

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Speedskater David Cruikshank qualified for his fourth Olympics, posting the second-best point total from two men’s 500-meter races at the U.S. Olympic trials at West Allis, Wis. Cruikshank, whose wife, speedskater Bonnie Blair, said Saturday she is expecting their first child, had 73.580 points, second to top qualifier Casey Fitzrandolph at 72.960.

Christine Witty led qualifiers for the women’s 500-meter squad with 78.800 points, followed by Rebecca Sundstrom (80.610) and Moira D’Andrea (81.250). All three also qualified for the 1,000 meters Saturday.

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Catriona Le May Doan of Canada broke her world 500-meter speedskating record for the second time in 24 hours during the Canadian Olympic trials at Calgary, Canada.

She was timed in 37.55 seconds, eclipsing her 37.71-second run of Saturday.

Le May Doan also holds the 1,500 world record and leads the 500- and 1,000-meter World Cup points standings.

Miscellany

Michigan will resume its suspended wrestling season Tuesday with a ban on athletes using saunas for weight loss and other safety measures in place.

That and six other safety measures are part of Michigan’s response to the Dec. 9 death of wrestler Jeff Reese.

Nicolas Massu of Chile defeated Rudy Rake, 6-1, 6-2, and ended Rake’s bid to become the first American champion at the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships at Miami Beach since 1992.

Tina Pisnik of Slovenia won the girls’ 18 title by defeating unseeded Gabriela Volekova of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-0.

Maxim Balmochnykh scored a goal with 41 seconds left and gave Russia a 3-2 victory over the United States in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships at Helsinki.

In other games, Canada won its first game of the tournament with a 5-0 decision over the Czech Republic, Finland beat Sweden, 4-3, and Kazakhstan downed Slovakia, 5-2.

Free-agent pitcher Masato Yoshii has decided to pursue his career in the major leagues, indicating he might sign with the New York Mets.

Yoshii was 13-6 with a 2.99 earned-run average last season for Yakult, the 1997 Japan Series champion. Don Nomura, Yoshii’s agent, has been negotiating with several teams, including the Mets and San Francisco Giants.

The Berlin prosecutors’ office, which deals with crimes relating to German unification, said it was investigating Winfried Leopold, who coaches the country’s world champion swimming team, on suspicion he gave banned substances to swimmers during his time as an East German coach.