Isinbayeva, Shaheen Break World Records

Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia and steeplechaser Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar set world records Friday at the Van Damme Memorial meet in Brussels.

Isinbayeva set a world record for the second time in two weeks and improved on the mark she set to win the Olympic title. She cleared 16-1 3/4 , bettering by a half inch her winning vault at the Athens Games. It was her fifth record in two months.

“I want to be a legend,� she said. “I like people to talk about me.�

Shaheen, kept from the Olympics because of a nationality switch from his native Kenya, set a world record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase of 7 minutes 53.63 seconds, breaking the mark of 7:55.28 set by Brahim Boulami of Morocco three years ago.

Olympic champion Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic ended his three-year winning streak in the 400 hurdles when he abandoned the race halfway through, apparently with a left thigh injury.

Sanchez had not lost a 400 hurdles race since July 2, 2001. In between, he won two world championships, the Pan American Games in 2003 and the Olympic gold medal.

Asafa Powell of Jamaica overcame a disappointing Olympics to win the 100 meters in 9.87 seconds, 0.02 seconds off the season’s best time by Olympic champion Justin Gatlin of Pensacola, Fla.

Powell, a pre-Olympic favorite to win in Athens, finished fifth at the Games but had the season’s third-fastest time to beat Shawn Crawford (9.99) of Raleigh, N.C., and Ghana’s Aziz Zakari (10.04).

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Golf

Tiger Woods shot a six-under-par 65 to tie for the first-round lead at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass., with Ryan Palmer, one stroke ahead of Mark O’Meara and two others.

Woods, who has won only once this year to jeopardize his No. 1 ranking, has a first-round lead for the first time since he won the 2003 Western Open. He has won eight of the last 10 tournaments in which he has led or shared the lead after the first round.

O’Meara is tied with Cameron Beckman and Jonathan Byrd. Vijay Singh, who could take over the top spot in the world rankings if he finishes higher than Woods, was among 10 tied at three-under.

Christina Kim followed a record-tying opening round with a six-under 66 to take a four-stroke lead midway through the LPGA State Farm Classic at Springfield, Ill.

One day after matching the course record of 10-under 62, Kim made three birdies on the front nine to reach 14 under. After getting to 17 under on the back, Kim dropped a stroke with a bogey at the par-five 15th and finished at 16-under 128.

Cristie Kerr moved into contention, matching her personal-best with a nine-under 63 to get to 12-under 132. After three birdies on the front side, she eagled the par-five 15th and made four birdies on the back nine.

Kim, a second-year tour player, is on a torrid pace. Her two-round total of 16 under is the lowest 36-hole score on the tour this year, bettering the 14 under posted by Jill McGill at last week’s Wachovia Classic.

Former PGA Tour official David Eger shot a five-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over D.A. Weibring after the first round of the Champions Tour’s inaugural First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Eger, who served two terms on the PGA Tour staff and was once senior director of rules and competition for the USGA, had six birdies and one bogey in warm, near-windless conditions at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Sergio Garcia birdied the last four holes for a six-under 65, giving him a one-shot lead over Ryder Cup teammate Miguel Angel Jimenez after two rounds of the European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland.

Garcia was at 11-under 131. Jimenez shot a 67.

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Hockey

The United States finally showed some energy in the World Cup, beating Slovakia, 3-1, at St. Paul, Minn., for its first win in the tournament.

Bill Guerin, Jason Blake and Bryan Smolinski scored for the U.S., which moved into third place in the North American Division. Slovakia dropped to fourth at 0-2.

The Americans had their best output of the tournament, outshooting Slovakia, 39-17. They had 24 shots against Canada, 21 against Russia.

The Czech Republic scored three goals in three minutes during the second period and routed Germany, 7-2, at Prague, Czech Republic.

The victory gave the Czechs third place in the European Division behind Finland and Sweden, dropping Germany to fourth.

Marek Zidlicky of the Nashville Predators scored on a power play 2:56 into the second period with a slap shot. Jiri Slegr of the Boston Bruins scored the second goal moments later and Jaromir Jagr scored the third from close range at 5:52 into the period.

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Miscellany

Former welterweight boxing champion Ricardo Mayorga was arrested Friday on suspicion of rape in Managua, Nicaragua, and says he is uncertain about the status of his Oct. 2 middleweight bout at Madison Square Garden against Felix Trinidad.

Mayorga was released after his attorney, Sergio Morales, charged that the arrest warrant used to detain the boxer had expired Thursday.

Mayorga was arrested at Managua’s international airport after a complaint was filed by a 20-year-old woman who said that he had invited her to a hotel, beat her and sexually abused her, a police spokesman said.

The boyfriend of Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann was killed when the Jeep the couple was in rolled off the shoulder of Interstate 76 in northeastern Colorado, the Colorado State Patrol said.

The crash happened when the Jeep rolled about two times, and Steven Blackford was ejected, patrol spokesman Master Trooper Ron Watkins said.

Blackford, 28, a three-time NCAA All-American wrestler at Arizona State, was not wearing a seat belt.

McMann, 23, who won in the 139-pound class, was hospitalized in Fort Morgan and has asked that her condition not be released, according to a hospital employee. Watkins said she suffered minor to moderate injuries. Investigators believe she was wearing a seat belt.

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Mike Penner is on vacation.