Sports Briefing
Devers takes 60, sets sights on double at indoor worlds

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Gail Devers won the 60 meters at the indoor world championships yesterday in Budapest, Hungary, and is a hurdles victory away from a historic double.

The 37-year-old Devers, who was born in Seattle, won the 60 in a season-best 7.08 seconds. She beat runner-up Kim Gevaert of Belgium by 0.04 seconds.

Wrapped in an American flag after her victory, Devers earned gold 11 years after claiming the indoor title in the 60 for the first time. She is an overwhelming favorite to successfully defend her hurdles title tomorrow. She is seeking to become the first to complete the double in those events at the indoor worlds. She won both events at the U.S. indoor championships last weekend in Boston.

Devers has won 10 individual golds at world or Olympic championships.

She is far from obsessed with the hardware.

"My gold medals are in the drawer with the Rottweilers' leashes," she said.

In the men's sprint, American Shawn Crawford finished second to Jason Gardener, who became the first Briton to win the title. Gardener's time was 6.49.

Tennis

Andy Roddick beat Jan-Michael Gambill 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

It was the first time in three tries Roddick has defeated Gambill, who was born in Spokane.
 
"It's nice. You don't want a losing record against anybody," Roddick said of his victory.

• Top-seeded Roger Federer of Switzerland beat Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the Dubai Open.

Other semifinalists are Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and Feliciano Lopez of Spain.

Soccer

Julie Foudy scored in the 87th minute to give the United States a 3-2 comeback victory over Mexico in the championship match of an Olympic qualifying tournament in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The United States overcame a 2-0 deficit, with Lindsay Tarpley scoring in the 44th minute and Abby Wambach tying the score in the 81st minute.

The two finalists already had qualified for this year's Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Horse racing

Pleasantly Perfect won't run in today's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap in Arcadia, Calif., because of a fever. He was listed as a 6-5 favorite on the morning line.

Southern Image is likely to inherit the favorite's role in the 1-¼-mile race.

Skiing

Finland's Hannu Manninen secured the overall World Cup title in Nordic combined with one event left in the season.

He finished third in a sprint at the Lahti Ski Games, a competition won by Japan's Daito Takahashi in Lahti, Finland.

Germany's Ronny Ackermann won the previous two overall World Cup championships.

Norway's Marit Bjorgen won her sixth straight World Cup cross-country ski sprint, and Thobias Fredriksson led a Swedish sweep in the men's event in Lahti.

Synchronized swimming

American Mary Hofer, 24, was handed a two-year ban from the International Swimming Federation (FINA) for refusing to take part in an out-of-competition test.

Hofer declined to undergo a test by the United States Anti-Doping Agency on Jan. 20.

The suspension began on March 3, but Hofer formally retired from the sport after her refusal to take a test.

— Times news services

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