Olympics: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is determined to slam shut a loophole that allows athletes competing in Olympics to take steroids.
Prince Alexandre de Merode, head of the IOC's medical commission said that the IOC wants to cut down on the number of athletes claiming to be astmathic and thus being allowed to take anabolic steroids.
At the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer seven years ago 70 to 80 per cent of the athletes declared themselves as asthmatic.
"Clearly there are a lot of incorrect diagnosis being made. In Sydney seven per cent of the athletes had asthma. In the rest of the population, only one per cent suffer from asthma. Very bizarre. At times it looks like Games for the Sick," Merode said.
Meanwhile, two IOC members risk expulsion - one after being jailed for corruption and the second after he was charged with embezzlement.
Both cases were handed over yesterday to the IOC's ethics commission.
Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, the timber tycoon and business partner of former Indonesian dictator Suharto, was jailed for two years last week by an Indonesian court after being found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars from his country's forestry association fund.
On Monday General Lassana Palenfo, number two in the military junta that ruled Ivory Coast until October, was charged in Abidjan with embezzlement.
Cycling: Two weeks after the collapse of the Linda McCartney squad, Irish cyclist Ciaran Power has been handed the lifeline of a professional contract with the St Quentin-Oktos team for 2001. Power's career had been plunged into uncertainty with the recent demise of the McCartney team following financial difficulties. However, contacts made during his time with the St Quentin team in 1998, prior to their graduation to the pro ranks, now sees the Waterford rider return to the outfit as their highest-ranking rider.
Power now joins David McCann in the professional peloton, with Mark Scanlon remaining without a contract for the time being. However, Scanlon's agent, Frank Quinn is understood to be considering offers from other teams.
Swimming: The Irish Schools swimming championships this weekend have had to be relocated to New Ross because of the unavailability of a pool in Dublin, reports Pat Roche.
The lack of a suitable venue in the capital means that the championships, under Leinster's control, will be staged outside Dublin for the first time in 33 years.
Snooker: Troubled Ronnie O'Sullivan crashed out of the £650,000 Masters last night and admitted: "I don't know whether I have the bottle to play this game anymore."
O'Sullivan, a winner of three titles all before Christmas, slumped to a 6-2 defeat to a rejuvenated Jimmy White.
Over 2,500 fans packed Wembley Conference Centre to witness this clash of the titans - the venue's biggest crowd since 1983 for a match other than the final.
"It was a blinding atmosphere and one of the best occasions I have ever played in," said O'Sullivan following his second-round exit.
"But I was so terrible I could not enjoy it. I'm not taking anything away from Jimmy but I couldn't put him under any pressure because I was useless."
Londoner White, whose only Masters win came in 1984, briefly looked to have problems clinching another excellent victory.
But he got his chance in frame eight and rolled in a 117 break to round off proceedings.
John Parrott ended a spell of poor form when he beat Stephen Lee 6-5 from 3-1, 4-2 and 5-4 down to reach the last eight.
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