Lewis Says He’s Retiring in June

Carl Lewis, the most decorated track and field athlete in history, will end his career in June in his hometown of Houston.

“A lot of people have been encouraging me to stay on and this is the first time I’ve said it will be my last season, but I intend to make my final race at Houston in June,” Lewis said Sunday at Sydney, Australia.

Lewis, 35, has won nine Olympic gold medals and eight world titles. He has been involved in setting 10 world records and he recorded 65 consecutive victories in the long jump between 1981 and 1991.

“I don’t know what it’s going to feel like not being on the track any more, but I’m not going to sever my connection with the sport or with the Olympics,” Lewis said.

Lewis was in Australia to compete in a 100-meter race today. He finished next to last in the 100 Friday at Auckland, New Zealand, in 10.76 seconds.

Winter Sports

Austrian skier Mario Reiter spoiled Alberto Tomba’s return to the circuit and defeated dominant teammate Thomas Sykora in the giant slalom for the fourth victory of his World Cup career at Kitzbuehel, Austria.

Reiter, second after the first run, had a total time of one minute, 36.09 seconds. Tomba, returning after skipping some events to heal injuries and prepare for the World Alpine Championships next month, finished second in 1:36.28.

Sykora, seeking his fifth consecutive slalom victory and sixth this season, finished seventh. He was poised to win after leading the first run, but trouble on the lower third of the course slowed his combined time to 1:37.08.

Third was Finn-Christian Jagge of Norway, like Reiter a surprise in the race. He was clocked at 1:36.54.

Olympic downhill champion Tommy Moe of Girdwood, Alaska, severed a tendon in his hand and will be out for up to six weeks of competition, including the World Alpine Ski Championships, the U.S. Ski Team said.

Moe underwent surgery Sunday at an Innsbruck hospital to repair the severed tendon, according to Thomas Karlsson, coach of the U.S. men’s team. He said Moe was hurt Saturday night after competing in the Hahnenkamm, the most prestigious downhill race in skiing. Moe was 30th in the race.

Details of the incident weren’t available.

Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni won for the fourth time this season, beating German Katja Seizinger handily in a giant slalom race at Cortina D’ampezzo, Italy.

The victory, by nearly six-tenths of a second, was the 11th on the women’s World Cup circuit for the 26-year-old skier from Santa Caterina. It also was her third consecutive giant slalom victory, giving her team its third triumph in as many days at Cortina.

Compagnoni, an Olympic and world champion, nearly had a spill on the first run, but she was faultless in the second to clock a combined winning time of 2:38.25.

Seizinger was timed in 2:38.84. Switzerland’s Sonja Nef had her best giant slalom performance this season, finishing third, 1.42 seconds behind.

After dominating the women’s circuit for two seasons, France’s Karine Ruby took her first World Snowboard Championships medal in the snowboardcross competition at San Candido, Italy.

Ruby, 19, has already picked up two silver medals at these championships--in the giant slalom and half-pipe.

Snowboarding will make its Olympic debut at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan.

On the men’s side, Austrian Helmut Pramstaller won to claim his country’s first medal of the competition.

Switzerland’s Reto Goetschi and Guido Acklin made their final descent in 64.45 seconds to win the two-man bobsled world championship title in a combined time of 4:17.59 at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

The Swiss team finished .98 seconds ahead of Guenther Huber and Antonio Tartaglia of Italy, the European champions, and 1.08 seconds in front of Americans Brian Shimer and Robert Olesen.

Dutch skater Bob de Jong skimmed past compatriot Gianni Romme to take the 5,000-meter World Cup speed skating event at Davos, Switzerland.

De Jong timed 6:51.21, 1.77 seconds faster than standings leader Romme.

Germany’s Gunda Niemann beat Svetlana Bazhanova of Russia by 0.67 seconds to take the women’s 1,500 in 2:03.57. American Kirstin Holum was 12th, clocking 2:05.79.

Miscellany

Liverpool and Newcastle were eliminated from the FA Cup in two big upsets in the fourth round of Britain’s showcase soccer tournament.

Chelsea beat league-leading Liverpool, 4-2, on four second-half goals, and Nottingham Forest ousted Newcastle, 2-1, on two goals in the second half by Ian Woan.

Three Cuban baseball players who defected from their national team have been designated free agents by major league baseball, their agent said.

The commissioner’s office granted the designation for first baseman Roberto Colina, 25; outfielder William Ortega, 21; and infielder Jesus “Chully” Ametller, 22.

Running

Cosmas Musyoka of Kenya will be a rabbit in March and on Sunday he ran like one.

Musyoka, who will be the designated rabbit--the pace-setter for the first 13 miles--in the Los Angeles Marathon on March 2, tuned up for his assignment by winning the 19th annual Redondo Beach Super Bowl 10K run in 29:21.0.

The wet streets along the coastline did not seem to bother Musyoka, who led from start to finish. Matt Guisto finished second in 29:30.

Michelle Buresh-Chalmers of Montana won the women’s 10K in 33:47, two seconds ahead of former champion Linda Somers.

Buresh-Chalmers trailed Somers for five miles before passing her on the final hill, with a little more than a mile to go.