Athletics: The IAAF said yesterday that Olympic sprint champion Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, heads a shortlist also including Aries Merritt, of the United States, and Kenya’s David Rudisha for the accolade of World Athlete of the Year. The IAAF will unveil the winner at its Centenary Gala on November 24 in Barcelona. Bolt, Merritt and Rudisha gained the most votes in a three-week poll.

Motor Sport: Poland’s Robert Kubica, whose Formula One career was put on hold after a near-fatal rally accident, will drive a Citroen rally car in two events in France and Italy this month, the French manufacturer said. Citroen said the former BMW-Sauber and Renault F1 driver would drive a C4 WRC car, similar to the one that took Sebastien Loeb to many of his nine world titles.

Basket, NBA: Los Angeles Lakers finally resembled the team many expected they would be as they blasted Detroit Pistons 108-79 on Sunday to end their early-season slide. The Lakers had begun the new season 0-3 for the first time since 1978, a shocking development for a team who acquired All Star duo Dwight Howard and Steve Nash in the off-season. On Sunday, however, they shook off the rust against the Pistons as Howard scored a game-high 28 points and Los Angeles quickly dominated by grabbing a 21-point lead after the first quarter.

Davis Cup: Philippine tennis authorities said their planned away Davis Cup tie with Syria had been switched to a home event because of the deadly unrest in the Middle East country. The first round of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group II match had originally been scheduled for Syria in February. Philippine Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva said they had been informed over the weekend of the switch.

Cycling: Australian clothing firm SKINS threatened to sue world cycling governing body UCI for $2.0 million, alleging the organisation harmed the company’s image by failing to crack down on doping and run a clean sport. The company’s Swiss lawyers wrote to UCI saying SKINS had been involved in professional cycling from 2008 in the belief that the sport had cleaned up its act after the scandal-tainted 1998 Tour de France. But in a statement issued through its lawyers, SKINS said it had concluded that it must revise that view.

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