Sprinter Bolt crashes car, isn’t seriously hurt

Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt was in a car crash Wednesday in Jamaica, but police and his manager said he was not seriously injured.

Bolt was apparently speeding on a rain-slicked highway when he lost control of his car and it went off the road, police Sgt. David Sheriff told the Associated Press. Sheriff was the first officer to arrive at the scene in St. Catherine parish and found the car heavily damaged.

Bolt and an unidentified female passenger were taken to the hospital, though neither was seriously hurt, Sheriff said.

The track star’s manager, Norman Peart, said Bolt sustained nothing more than scratches from thorn bushes when he stepped out of the car on the side of the road.

“We are very relieved he’s OK,” Peart said. “Everybody is fine.”

OLYMPICS

Athletes identified in blood doping

The gold medalist in one of track and field’s glamour races and a silver winner in cycling are among six athletes from the Beijing Games nabbed for blood doping in the latest Olympic drug scandal.

National sports bodies in Bahrain and Italy confirmed that 1,500-meter champion Rashid Ramzi and road race medalist Davide Rebellin turned up positive for the new blood-boosting drug CERA in retests of their samples. Dominican women’s weightlifter Yudelquis Contreras and prominent German cyclist Stephan Schumacher were among the others. A person with knowledge of the results told the AP that Greek race walker Athanasia Tsoumeleka and Croatian 800-meter runner Vanja Perisic also tested positive.

TENNIS

Murray loses at Rome Masters

Andy Murray lost only his fourth match of the year, falling to Argentine qualifier Juan Monaco, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5, in his opener at the Rome Masters.

Elsewhere, top-seeded Rafael Nadal dispatched Andreas Seppi, 6-2, 6-3, No. 2-seeded Roger Federer defeated Ivo Karlovic, 6-4, 6-4, and sixth-seeded Fernando Verdasco ousted American Mardy Fish, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

Jurgen Melzer upset seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

HOCKEY

U.S. blows lead but avoids Russia

The United States blew a three-goal lead in the third period and lost, 6-5, in overtime to Sweden in the ice hockey world championship at Bern, Switzerland.

However, a single point was enough for the Americans to win Group C and avoid facing Russia just 18 hours later in a second-round match on the same rink.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Congress to examine fairness of BCS

The political football that is the Bowl Championship Series lands in Congress this week as lawmakers examine whether the system for awarding a national championship is fair.

Several lawmakers are pushing bills on the BCS. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), for example, has sponsored legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a college football game a “national championship” unless it results from a playoff system.

Indiana receiver Kellen Lewis, who was the team’s starting quarterback in 2007, has been dismissed from the team for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

HORSE RACING

Breeders’ Cup to stay at Santa Anita

The 2009 Breeders’ Cup will be held at Santa Anita Nov. 6-7 as scheduled, Breeders’ Cup Ltd. confirmed. There had been uncertainty because of a recent bankruptcy filing by Magna Entertainment Corp., the owner of Santa Anita Park.

But a Delaware court judge has affirmed the racing lease of the Oak Tree Racing Assn. with Santa Anita, clearing the way for the Arcadia track to host thoroughbred racing’s world championships for a second consecutive year. Churchill Downs will be the site in 2010.

-- Eric Sondheimer

ETC.

Nationwide Tour postpones event

The Nationwide Tour has postponed the Mexico Open golf tournament scheduled for May 21-24 because of the swine flu outbreak.

Nationwide Tour President Bill Calfee says it will be rescheduled for later in the year.

The Clippers will play host to Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv in an exhibition at Staples Center on Oct. 20, a benefit for the Israeli organization, Migdal Ohr, the worlds largest orphanage.

-- Lisa Dillman