Oilers’ Alm Was Legally Drunk Before Suicide

Jeff Alm of the Houston Oilers was legally drunk, the effects enhanced by a prescription barbiturate, when he committed suicide after a car crash that killed his best friend.

Alm’s blood-alcohol level was .14, above the .10 legal limit for Texas drivers, Joseph Jachimczyk, Harris County’s chief medical examiner, said Wednesday.

Jachimczyk added that the drug Fiorinal, a commonly prescribed muscle relaxant, was found in Alm’s blood. The defensive tackle was recuperating from a leg injury at the time of his death.

Winter Sports

Deborah Compagnoni of Italy won her third successive giant slalom at Morzine, France. Americans Heidi Voelker and Eva Twardokens finished third and fourth--the team’s best World Cup showing of the season.

World Cup leader Anita Wachter of Austria finished second.

Three Olympic men’s singles veterans--Wendel Suckow, Duncan Kennedy and Robert Pipkins--were among 10 selected for the 1994 U.S. Olympic luge team.

Two doubles teams were named: Chris Thorpe-Gordy Sheer and Mark Grimmette-Jon Edwards. Cammy Myler, Bethany Calcaterra-McMahon and Erin Warren were chosen for the women’s singles team.

Swimming

China’s Zhong Weiyue Zhong broke the women’s 100-meter butterfly record with a time of 58.71 seconds at the World Cup short-course swimming meet at Beijing, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported. The previous world record of 58.91 was set by American Mary T. Meagher in 1981.

Earlier, Alexander Popov of Russia broke the world record in the men’s 100-meter freestyle for the second time in a week. He finished in 47.82 seconds to clip 0.01 seconds off the world mark he set in Hong Kong on New Year’s Day.

Auto Racing

The estate of NASCAR driver Davey Allison filed a $25-million lawsuit blaming McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Systems for a July crash at Talladega Superspeedway that killed Allison.

An attorney for Allison’s family said that experts hired by the estate determined a part linked to the helicopter’s “collective”--a stick used to help control flight--failed.

Names in the News

Pete Sampras, the top-ranked tennis player in the world, was upset by 204th-ranked Karim Alami of Morocco, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, in the Quatar Open. . . . Auburn football Coach Terry Bowden was rewarded for an 11-0 season with a five-year contract and a $25,000 raise to $115,000. . . . Abe Pollin, Washington Bullet owner, said that Coach Wes Unseld would remain at the helm at least until the end of the season. . . . Salsa General Manager Rick Davis was named coach of the American Professional Soccer League team. Davis replaces Rildo Menezes, who resigned under pressure after last season. . . . Injured Phoenix Sun forward Cedric Ceballos has been cited for carrying a concealed weapon in a bar, police said. . . . The FBI arrested William (Caveman) Lee, a former middleweight boxer, on charges of robbing a third Detroit-area bank. . . . Mariko Westbrook, the mother of Olympic fencer Peter Westbrook, who encouraged her son to take up the sport so he would stay off the streets, died after being pushed off a bus, authorities in New York said. . . . Walter Ray Williams Jr. was voted professional bowler of the year.