SuperShorts: Stick to soccer

Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea Football Club, abandoned an attempt to conquer Mt Kilimanjaro after collapsing more than 1220m from the summit last week. The 43-year-old was carried to safety after experiencing breathing problems during a failed attempt to ascend the mountain in Tanzania last week. He had invited a group of six friends to scale the 5891m summit, but the expedition had to be cancelled at 4602m. Abramovich's group tackled the western breach, which is the most difficult approach. The party, who flew in on the oligarch's private Boeing 767, took with them 113 porters. It was reported that Guus Hiddink, Chelsea's interim manager last season, was among the group. Abramovich succumbed to what appeared to have been altitude sickness.

Amputee arrested
South Africa's double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has been arrested for an alleged assault on a woman. Police in Johannesburg said Pistorius, 22, who is nicknamed "Blade Runner" because of the prosthetic legs, spent a night in a cell after his arrest. Pistorius, who won three gold medals in the Beijing Paralympics, was arrested after slamming a door on a woman who had been involved in a row at a party at his home. His family and friends said it was an accident. Pistorius, who had both legs removed between the knee and ankle as a baby, began competing against able-bodied athletes in 2007 but the governing IAAF banned him after ruling that his artificial limbs gave him an unfair advantage. The Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted the ban last year and although he missed out on qualification for the Olympics he triumphed in the Paralympic Games.

Stand up or else
Three teenagers who say they were tossed from a New Jersey ballpark over their refusal to stand during the song God Bless America are suing the minor league team. The boys argue that their constitutional rights were violated when they were asked to leave Newark's Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium on June 29 by Bears' president and co-owner Thomas Cetnar. Cetnar acknowledged the boys were asked to leave but declined to say why. He also has denied making some statements attributed to him in the lawsuit. The boys - Millburn High seniors Bryce Gadye and Nilkumar Patel, both 17, and junior Shaan Mohammad Khan, 16 - sued in federal court seeking unspecified damages. According to the lawsuit, the boys were seated behind home plate when the song began playing. Once it ended, they say Cetnar approached them yelling. "Nobody sits during the singing of God Bless America in my stadium," the lawsuit quotes Cetnar as saying. "Now get the **** out of here." Cetnar denied saying that: "Never, never did that ever happen."

Maradona at fat farm
Argentina coach Diego Maradona is in Italy to receive medical treatment to combat his weight increase and rising stress levels following his team's two straight losses in World Cup qualifying. Maradona travelled to Merano to a beauty farm run by Henri Chenot after Argentina lost 3-1 to Brazil and 1-0 to Paraguay to drop out of the automatic World Cup qualifying places. ANSA quoted unidentified hotel personnel saying that Maradona intends to stay for a couple of weeks for strict dieting. Argentina has won six matches and lost four since Maradona took over in November 2008. Those losses include a 6-1 thrashing by Bolivia and a 2-0 defeat to Ecuador.

Good week for...

Juan Martin del Potro

Supershorts watched the young Argentine win the Heineken Open in Auckland in January and it was obvious he was a star in the making. He and his manager liked the tournament, so let's hope organisers can lure the US Open winner back.

Bad week for...

Serena Williams

Top tennis is all down to timing so how did the women's star get it so badly wrong? First her expletive-laiden tirade at a line umpire in the US Open semifinal against mum of the moment Kim Clijsters and then the belated apology, a day late.

The number

$2.5m

The prizemoney Juan Martin del Potro earned for his US Open victory over Roger Federer. His earnings for the year total around $5 million, including the $109,000 for his Heineken Open win.