Lance Armstrong hit by car

According to Dan Osipow of Disson Furst and Partners, which owns and manages the U.S. Postal Service team, Armstrong's bike was destroyed and his helmet shattered into several pieces. But X-rays were negative, and Armstrong suffered only bruises to his back. Hamilton suffered minor injuries to his elbow and knee.

Both are expected to compete for in the road race and time trial at the Sydney Games in late September.

–Chip Brown

Slur stirs controversy

BRISBANE, Australia – John Rocker revisited.

That's the way U.S. Olympic long jumpers Melvin Lister and Savante Stringfellow reacted to racial remarks by Australian jumper Jai Taurima.

Australian newspapers on Wednesday quoted Taurima as saying that because of the cool conditions expected for the Sydney Olympics, "You can pretty much knock out all the dark athletes. We jumped in Salamanca [Spain] a month ago, and those guys just couldn't compete well in bad conditions. It was wet and cold."

Lister and Stringfellow, both of whom are black, were seething when told of Taurima's statements.

"I would rank them the same as the John Rocker comments," Stringfellow said, referring to the Atlanta Braves reliever who in December made disparaging remarks about foreigners, gays, women and New Yorkers.

Taurima, a Queensland resident, is described as half Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.

Briefly ...

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel, the starter for the United States at the 1992 Barcelona Games, was added Wednesday to the U.S. soccer roster. Friedel takes over as the starter from Adin Brown, cut Tuesday because of leg injuries. ... The U.S. women's gymnastics team, which has been training in Houston, will have a free exhibition in San Marcos on Saturday. The "Send-Off to Sydney" is at Southwest Texas State's Strahan Coliseum at 3 p.m.