Felix Sanchez takes bronze at Pan American Games

Lunging at the line and falling in pain on the track, Felix Sanchez gave it everything he could Thursday in the 400-meter hurdles at the Pan American Games.

Instead of another gold, however, “Super Felix” had to settle for bronze in Guadalajara.

“I was bronze, but I wanted the gold,” Sanchez said. “Just a little bit more and I would’ve gotten the silver.”

The Dominican runner, who was born in the United States and went to USC, won the 400 hurdles gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is a two-time world champion in the event. He also won the race eight years ago in Santo Domingo.

A short time after the race finished, Sanchez stood on the podium with his right arm in a sling and broke down into tears as he received his bronze medal.

“When I crossed the finish line and fell to the ground I think I broke something. But we’ll go take an X-ray to be sure,” Sanchez said as he was getting into an ambulance outside the stadium.

Omar Cisneros of Cuba won the race in 47.99 seconds, a Pan American Games record. Isa Phillips of Jamaica was second in 48.82 and Sanchez took third in 48.85.

ETC.

Beasley alleges illicit benefits

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley is accusing his former agent and an AAU coach of conspiring to forge a relationship with him from the age of 14 and giving his mother improper cash benefits while Beasley starred at Kansas State, all in an effort to land the basketball prodigy as a client.

Beasley laid out the allegations in a lawsuit filed in Maryland a month ago in response to agent Joel Bell’s wrongful-termination lawsuit against him. Beasley said Bell gave his mother living expenses when he went to school there, which would probably violate NCAA rules and federal regulations governing sports agents.

The Associated Press left messages for attorneys representing Beasley and Bell seeking comment. Both an attorney for AAU coach Curtis Malone and Malone himself vehemently denied any wrongdoing.

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Commissioner Mike Slive says the Southeastern Conference transition team that includes Texas A&M is working on scheduling for both a 13- and 14-school league just in case the SEC expands further.

However, Slive wouldn’t say whether any 14-team scenario includes Missouri.

The commissioner said at the league’s basketball media day that with respect to SEC expansion, “I don’t have anything new to report at this time.”

Missouri is widely expected to leave the Big 12 Conference and join the SEC, giving the league a chance to have two seven-team divisions.

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Texas A&M basketball Coach Billy Kennedy says that he is in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease.

Kennedy, who took a leave of absence from the team this month, says his doctors tell him he should be able to rejoin the team soon.

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Omar Cummings scored moments before halftime as the Colorado Rapids opened their Major League Soccer title defense with a 1-0 victory over the Columbus Crew in a wild-card match at Commerce City, Colo.

Colorado will face Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting Sunday.

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Petra Kvitova reached the semifinals of the WTA Championships at Istanbul, Turkey, dominating Caroline Wozniacki in a 6-4, 6-2 win that handed the top-ranked Dane her second loss at the season-ending tournament.

Kvitova joined Victoria Azarenka in the final four, with the Belarusian having earned a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Li Na in the early match.

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Mace Siegel, a prominent owner and breeder of thoroughbreds in California and a developer of retail shopping malls, died of heart failure Wednesday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 86.