Molson ends Indy-car race in Vancouver

Auto racing

Indy-car race in Vancouver canceled: The Molson Indy Vancouver race was canceled yesterday after 15 years.

"The bottom line is the business model couldn't work," said Jo-Ann McArthur, president of sponsoring Molson Sports and Entertainment.

The race was not listed on the Champ Car schedule for next year, but the decision by Molson means there is no chance it will be added.

Mears wins Busch pole: Casey Mears set a track qualifying record and won his third Busch Series pole of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Mears' Dodge got around the 1-1/2-mile oval at 177.936 mph, breaking the record of 177.416 set last year by Greg Biffle of Vancouver, Wash.

Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw qualified fourth, and Biffle was 17th. Olympics

Greek sprinters face charges: Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou and their coach were charged with avoiding a drug test on the eve of the Athens Olympics and faking a motorcycle accident hours later.

Chief prosecutor Dimitris Papangelopoulos, announcing the results of a two-month investigation, issued charges against the two athletes and coach Christos Tzekos. The coach was also charged with illegally importing and selling banned substances.

Twelve others — including seven doctors at the state hospital where Thanou and Kenteris were treated after the alleged motorcycle crash — were charged with making false statements.

Soccer

Donovan player of year: Landon Donovan was voted the U.S. national team's player of the year, becoming the first three-time winner of the award.

Donovan's five goals tied for the U.S. lead, and he was the captain for the past three World Cup qualifiers due to Claudio Reyna's leg injury.

Britain condemns racist taunts: The British government condemned racist taunts by fans in Spain aimed at black players on England's team during an exhibition game. FIFA, soccer's world governing body, ordered an investigation.

Fans repeatedly made monkey noises whenever Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole touched the ball during Spain's 1-0 victory in Madrid on Wednesday.

U.S. women beat Spain: The defending champion United States beat Spain 1-0 at the 12-team FIFA Under-19 Women's World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.

Tennis

Roddick edges Safin: Andy Roddick came up with four aces in the second-set tiebreaker and defeated Marat Safin 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-4) in a second round match of the ATP Masters Cup Championships in Houston.

The second-seeded Roddick remained on course for a weekend meeting with No. 1 Roger Federer.

Federer beat Carlos Moya 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and Tim Henman overwhelmed Guillermo Coria 6-2, 6-2.

Hockey

No NHL draft: There won't be an NHL entry draft before a collective-bargaining agreement is reached with the players association, said the director of the league's scouting department.

Tour planned: Goalies Martin Brodeur and Dominik Hasek will lead a 10-game European tour by locked-out NHL players next month.

Soviet legend Ragulin dies: Alexander Ragulin, a defenseman on the great Soviet teams of the 1960s and 1970s and a three-time Olympic champion, died Wednesday at 63 in Moscow. No cause of death was given.

Seattle Times news services