Sports briefs for October 29, 2003

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2003 | 10:19 a.m.

The IOC is looking into whether drug tests at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics can be rechecked for the recently discovered steroid THG, IOC medical director Patrick Schamasch said today.

Lawyers for the International Olympic Committee are studying the legality of retroactive testing of frozen urine samples taken to Los Angeles from the temporary Olympic drug-testing laboratory in Utah.

"The samples exist. Now we have to look into all the juridical issues," Schamasch said.

The IOC also is asking scientists if frozen 19-month-old samples are viable.

Don Catlin, who heads the Olympic drug-testing laboratory at UCLA, where the samples are stored, told the Salt Lake Tribune that 200 to 300 samples still exist.

The IOC's doping rules only require drug-testers to keep backup samples of positive tests for 90 days while backups of negative tests must be kept for 30 days.

Also today, swimming's world governing body said it will retest hundreds of athletes' urine samples from the 2003 world championships.

Yankees fire coach

Rick Down was released as the New York Yankees' hitting coach. "I guess I wore out my welcome," said Down, a former assistant coach at UNLV. The Yankees batted .140 with runners in scoring position in the six-game loss to Florida in the World Series. Down is the third Yankees hitting instructor to be fired in the past four years.

Lewis eyes Tyson cash

Lennox Lewis filed paperwork in a New York bankruptcy court asking for Mike Tyson's assets to be liquidated so that Lewis can recover $20 million he says is owed to him. Lewis already had filed a $20 million lawsuit against Tyson, arguing that Tyson's bankruptcy filing has prevented him from meeting a rematch clause in their 2002 fight contract.

Roy's 33 in the rafters

Colorado retired Patrick Roy's No. 33 before the Avalanche's game in Denver with the Calgary Flames.

Rebels lose at Reno

UNR swept the UNLV women's team, dropping the Rebels to 9-12. It was the sixth consecutive road loss for UNLV.