Inside running: Nash looking good

The back injury which sidelined allrounder Dion Nash during the New Zealand cricket tour of India is not as serious as first feared and he should be available for the first test against the West Indies next month. Scans have revealed Nash has herniated a disc, not sustained a back stress fracture, which was feared when Nash was invalided home during the one-day series.

Baumann in bother


Former Olympic champion Dieter Baumann, who has tested positive for nandrolone, said he was determined to prove his innocence. Baumann, the 5000m gold medallist at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, who has been a leading anti-doping campaigner for years, insisted he had never taken any banned substance.


Tommi guns it


Flying Finn Tommi Makinen finds clear air with his Mitsubishi Lancer (above) during the Rally of Great Britain yesterday. Despite finishing the day seventh, Makinen can rest easy as he is already assured of a record fourth successive world title.


Athletes honoured


Carl Lewis, winner of a record nine Olympic gold medals, and Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four golds at the 1948 London Games, were named Athletes of the Century by the International Amateur Athletic Federation yesterday. Lewis emulated Blankers-Koen by winning four golds in a single Olympics at Los Angeles in 1984.


Laporte in hot seat


Bernard Laporte was yesterday named France's new rugby coach. Laporte replaces 50-year-old Jean-Claude Skrela, who quit after taking the side to the World Cup final earlier this month. Laporte headed off great centre Philippe Sella, who made a world record 111 appearances for his country, for the job.


Netball lesson


The New Zealand under-21 netball team gave their
unrated Welsh opponents a quick coaching session before
going on to beat them 30-8 in a practice match in Cardiff yesterday. The New Zealanders opted for a half-hour coaching session before playing four eight-minute quarters against their hosts in a warm-up to the England encounter this morning.


Fijian flair


Canterbury have signed flying Fijian rugby winger Marika Vunibaka for two years. Vunibaka is one of the world's leading sevens players but made headlines for the wrong reasons at the recent World Cup, when he was sent off for head-butting a Canadian opponent.