Sports round-up

Athletics: Former world and Olympic shot put champion Svetlana Krivelyova is being investigated by the IOC over a possible breach of doping rules at the 2004 Athens Games where she won bronze. Valentin Balakhnichyov, president of the Russian athletics federation (VFLA), said Krivelyova was aware of the probe. “The IOC has notified the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the ROC then asked us to get in touch with the athlete,” Balakhnichyov said. The IOC is set to discuss potential doping cases from the 2004 Games at its executive board meeting in Lausanne next week.

Swimming: Olympic bronze medallist and former 400 metres freestyle world record holder Joanne Jackson has announced her retirement from competitive swimming. Jackson, who won bronze in the 400m freestyle at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, broke the world record en route to qualifying for the 2009 World Championships, where she won silver. The 26-year-old said: “I feel so lucky to have been able to compete to an international level for so many years. I would like to thank everyone who has supported me along the way.”

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Judo: France’s Olympic judo champion Lucie Decosse’s (picture) three world gold medals have been stolen in a burglary at her home outside Paris, police confirmed yesterday. The 31-year-old judoka’s home at Thiais, in the southern suburbs of the French capital, was broken into while she was attending the national championships in Montpellier as a spectator between November 23 and 25. The burglars “stole three world championship medals, a computer and a bracelet”, police said.

Rallying: Norwegian driver Mads Ostberg will be behind the wheel of M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta RS for the 2013 world championship rally season after agreeing a deal with the Qatari-backed team. The 25-year-old finished fourth this season behind nine-time champion Sebastien Loeb and in the top five during all 11 rallies he drove in this season, only missing out on the top three overall by five points behind Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala, of Finland.

Squash: Frustrated by two failed bids to get squash into the Olympics, world no.1 Nicol David and her fellow players have embarked on a campaign to raise the sport’s global profile in an attempt to win over IOC chiefs in Hong Kong this week. One sport will be added to the programme for the 2020 Games with squash up against karate, the Chinese martial art of wushu, baseball, softball, roller sports, wakeboarding and sport climbing. IOC observers are inspecting the Hong Kong Open as part of their squash evaluation and David said the tournament was the ideal setting to show the sport deserved a place at the Games.

Olympics: Stars from the London Olympics dominated the list of nominees for the prestigious BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Of the 12 names on the list, golfer Rory McIlroy was the only person not to have competed at the Games during the British summer. Theshortlist also featured five women, after an all-male list of nominees in 2011 sparked controversy. Cyclist Bradley Wiggins is the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite to win the award following a historic victory in the Tour de France and a gold medal in the Olympic time-trial.

Basket, NBA: San Antonio Spurs kept Washington winless this season by beating the Wizards 118-92 behind a balanced offensive attack and 16 points from Boris Diaw. Tiago Splitter added 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Tony Parker also had 15 points for the Spurs, who have won four-straight matches. Tim Duncan had 14 points, Gary Neal netted 13, Manu Ginobili scored 12 and Matt Bonner finished with 11 at the Verizon Center arena.