Sports briefs 10/9/04

Cycling

• Two Belgian cyclists - a former world champion and a 2000 Olympic silver medalist - were suspended by their federation in separate doping scandals.

Filip Meirhaeghe, a former world champion mountain biker, was suspended for 15 months after he tested positive this year for an endurance-enhancing substance.

Johan Museeuw, a retired cyclist who finished second at the Sydney Games, and two others were suspended for two years. All three deny any involvement.

Football

• Baltimore Ravens running back Jamal Lewis was suspended for two games without pay by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy, one day after pleading guilty to trying to set up a drug deal four years ago.

Lewis will not appeal the punishment and will miss those games in late October, the Ravens said. He plans to play Sunday night at Washington.

Lewis also was fined two weeks' salary, $761,000, in the decision issued Friday by NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue. That means Lewis will lose a total of about $1.5 million.

• The Chicago Bears are finding it difficult to avoid injuries even during their bye week.

Starting left guard Ruben Brown joined the lengthy injury list when he suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee. He was expected to have arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage Friday.

Bears coach Lovie Smith said Brown's recovery would likely take two to four weeks.

Golf

• Tiger Woods finally confirmed Friday what everybody's known for the last three days: He married Swedish nanny Elin Nordegren in Barbados.

"There certainly has been a lot of speculation about my personal life, which is why Elin and I wanted to confirm that we got married on Tuesday," Woods said on his Web site. "Elin and I celebrated this wonderful occasion with our close friends and family, and we look forward to starting our new life together."

• England's David Howell capped his round with an eagle Friday to take a one-stroke lead over compatriot and Ryder Cup teammate Luke Donald after two rounds of the Dunhill Links Championship.

Howell and Donald each shot 7-under 65 on the Old Course. Howell's second successive 65 was capped by an eagle-2 on a 105-yard sand wedge into the 18th hole. Donald was a stroke behind at 13-under 131.

Olympics

• Six weeks after the Athens Olympics, the United States stands to pick up another gold medal - thanks to an equestrian doping scandal. The four Americans who finished second in the team jumping event could be bumped up to gold because a horse ridden by a member of the winning German team failed a drug test.

The International Equestrian Federation (FEI) said Friday that four horses tested positive for banned substances. The horses included Waterford Crystal, ridden by showjumper Cian O'Connor, winner of Ireland's only gold medal in Athens, and Goldfever, ridden by Ludger Beerbaum of Germany's gold medal-winning quartet in team jumping. The riders and their federations said they would request analysis of the horses' backup samples.

If Germany loses the team jumping gold, it would go to the U.S. quartet of Chris Kappler, of Pittstown, N.J.; Beezie Madden, of Cazenovia, N.Y.; McLain Ward, of Brewster, N.Y.; and Peter Wylde, of Dover Plains, N.Y.

Miscellaneous

• Defendants charged with distributing illegal steroids to some of the nation's best-known athletes were subjected to illegal searches and coerced by federal investigators, defense lawyers said Friday.

The four defendants are connected to BALCO, a nutritional supplement lab at the center of a scandal that has rippled through the ranks of the nation's professional and Olympic athletes.

Attorneys for two of the defendants said they will seek to dismiss the federal indictments against their clients. Friday was the deadline to file motions in the case.

Tennis

• Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsay Davenport won in straight sets to reach the Porsche Grand Prix semifinals in another step in their battle for the No. 1 ranking. The top-ranked Mauresmo overpowered Lisa Raymond of the United States 6-4, 6-1, and No. 2-ranked Davenport struggled with her first serve but defeated qualifier Jelena Jankovic of Serbia-Montenegro 6-4, 6-3.

Davenport will reclaim the No. 1 ranking if she wins her season-high seventh title and Mauresmo loses her semifinal today. Four of the top five ranked players are in the semis.

• Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova beat Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-3 and will play for the Japan Open title against Mashona Washington. Washington defeated seventh-seeded Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

Among the men, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt stopped ninth-seeded Cyril Saulnier 7-5, 6-1 to reach the semis. Hewitt will next face fifth-seeded Jiri Novak, who defeated fourth-seeded Paradorn Srichapan 6-4, 6-4. Bohdan Ulihrach eliminated Bjorn Phau 7-5, 6-4 and will face Taylor Dent in the other semifinal. Dent, seeded seventh, won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 against Gilles Muller.

-- From wire reports