Officials of the Anchorage group bidding for the 1994 Winter Olympics got encouraging news Thursday. International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch said the visa problem at the Pan American Games ”will not harm the position of cities in the U.S. trying to get future Olympic Games.” The U.S. State Department`s denial of an entry visa to Chilean shooter Francisco Zuniga for August`s Pan Am Games in Indianapolis had caused several important figures in the Olympic movement to say that decision would have a negative impact on the chances of any U.S. city bidding for the Games.
Jaguar Spur captured the $412,330 Little Brown Jug, the second jewel of 3-year-old pacing`s Triple Crown, by four lengths over Redskin Thursday before a crowd of 44,932 at the Delaware County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. Jaguar Spur won the first of three divisions, upsetting 1-to-5 favorite Run the Table, and then won the nine-horse raceoff by four lengths in 1:553/5. Driven by Richard Stillings, Jaguar Spur has won 17 of 22 starts this year. In the raceoff, which includes the top three finishers in the division heats, the Albatross colt went to the lead and fought off the challenge of Frugal Gourmet and Redskin to win.
The first round of the Greater Milwaukee Open was suspended because of rain Thursday afternoon with half the 156-player field on the golf course. The GMO is the sixth straight tour event suspended because of rain. There have been weather suspensions in 22 of the 38 PGA Tour events this year. The Western Golf Association also continued to take a beating from the weather. The WGA`s Western Open was devasted by rains last month at Butler National, and its Chick Evans Memorial Pro-Am was postponed unitl Saturday at Knollwood Club in Lake Forest using players who failed to make the cut in Milwaukee. The WGA`s plans will probably be affected by the rain at Tuckaway Country Club. ”We`re sunk,” said WGA public relations director Brian Fitzgerald. Those who didn`t finish Thursday came back at 7:15 a.m. Friday to complete their rounds and then play as much of their second rounds as possible starting at 2:45 p.m. The players who were originally scheduled to play late on Friday started at 10:30 a.m. Second-round play will be completed and the 36-hole cut will be made on Saturday with the third round to follow. Tommy Nakajima`s course record-tying 62 almost took a back seat to the weather. He made 10 birdies and chipped in for an eagle to offset two bogeys and open a two-shot lead over former PGA champion Hubert Green. Buick Open champion Robert Wrenn had a 65 and Andy North was at 66. Gary Pinns of Wheaton and former Waukegan golfer David Ogrin each shot a 69. Gary Hallberg of Barrington shot a 70, and Rick Dalpos of Lemont carded a 71.
Zola Budd has returned quietly to competition after an injury, using an assumed name in two minor races, according to Britain press reports. While attention was focused on the recent World Track and Field Championships at Rome, the 21-year-old naturalized Briton, who has been sidelined for nearly a year with thigh and hamstring injuries, ran in a road runners` handicap around London`s Hyde Park using the name T. Davies, according to the reports. She finished far back in the field. Again calling herself Davies, she won a two-mile cross country race last weekend. Saturday, running under her own name, Budd plans to run in a 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) road race in Northern Ireland. Budd was quoted in several British newspapers as saying that her injuries, which had cast a shadow over her career, were cured.
Attorneys for former Milwaukee Bucks coach Don Nelson and American Airlines have reached a settlement in a suit stemming from back injuries Nelson allegedly received during a flight from Chicago to Baltimore Dec. 1, 1984. Nelson`s lawyer, William E. Callahan, said the settlement was ”very fair and reasonable,” but would not disclose the amount. Nelson, who is now a part-owner of the Golden State Warriors, had asked for $500,000 in damages. Nelson, who underwent back surgery in 1980, alleged he aggravated the injury when an American Airlines jet came to a ”sudden and abrupt stop” as it approached a gate at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the suit said. Nelson did not need immediate hospitalization, Callahan said, but nearly two years later, he was hospitalized for a few days. Callahan said Nelson may have to undergo further back surgery.
