Overtime

Olympics

Lab charged for destroying sample

In Athens, Greece, an Olympic doping laboratory was charged Monday with destroying a sample that belonged to gold medalist cyclist Tyler Hamilton.

Prosecutors charged "unknown perpetrators" with destroying a backup sample of the U.S. rider's blood.

After winning his event at the Athens Games, Hamilton took a doping test, and an initial sample and backup sample were kept by the lab. A test of the initial sample showed evidence of a blood transfusion, but the case against Hamilton was dropped after his backup sample was frozen, leaving too few red blood cells to analyze.

Hamilton tested positive again at a September race, with both samples confirming the result. He has questioned the reliability of the testing system for blood doping, which boosts endurance by raising the level of oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

Prosecutors also charged Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis with taking banned substances during the Olympics. Sampanis was stripped of his bronze medal in the 137-pound category after a drug test showed an abnormally high level of testosterone. He faces a single misdemeanor charge.

Soccer

FIFA picks Brazilian as best in the world

Brazilian striker Ronaldinho won FIFA's World Player of the Year award , beating out France's Thierry Henry and Ukrainian Andrei Shevchenko.

Germany's Birgit Prinz won the women's award, ahead of Mia Hamm and Brazilian youngster Marta. Prinz was a repeat winner.

"I've enjoyed every minute of it and to be able to do it as long as I've had," said Hamm, who recently retired as the sport's leading career scorer. "I've had a lot of support from my family. The game (will) see so much more growth."

Brazil won team of the year.

Ronaldinho won the poll of national soccer associations with 620 votes, ahead of Henry at 552 and Shevchenko with 253.

"This is a very special moment in my career," Ronaldinho said.

Boxing

Spadafora pleads guilty in shooting

Former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons charge for shooting his girlfriend last year.

Prosecutors dropped charges of attempted homicide and reckless endangerment.

Spadafora was charged with shooting Nadine Russo in the abdomen on Oct. 26, 2003, because he was upset she had flattened two tires on his sport utility vehicle. The couple has since become engaged, and Russo did not comment when leaving court Monday.

The two counts to which Spadafora pleaded guilty are felonies. Aggravated assault carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, while the weapons charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years.

The troubled fighter was jailed earlier this month after a urine test revealed he had been using cocaine, a violation of his bond.

Spadafora is a former Inter­national Boxing Federation lightweight champion. He gave up his IBF 135-pound title in 2003 and said he was moving up to junior welterweight, where he could maintain his weight.

Softball

Texas Tech hires fired Huskies coach

Former Washington softball coach Teresa Wilson, who built the Huskies into a national power but was fired in the fallout from a prescription drug scandal, was hired as the new coach at Texas Tech.

Wilson maintained she did nothing wrong at Washington, but said Monday she is limited in what she can discuss publicly because of her pending lawsuit against the school for her December 2003 firing.

Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers said he was fully aware of the situation at Washington, and confident that Wilson "wasn't the problem up there." He said she was the best fit and most qualified for the job.

Wilson was fired before last season and, until getting a call from Myers last month, had no offers from major conference teams.