Ireland's Pat McQuaid was chosen as the successor to UCI president Hein Verbruggen as the head of world cycling's governing body by an overwhelming majority yesterday. The Irishman, who has been groomed for the post by Verbruggen, gained 31 votes from the 42 International Cycling Union members eligible to take part in the election. His only opponent Gregorio Moreno of Spain received just 11.

Tennis - Venus pulls out of China Open

Wimbledon champion Venus Williams pulled out of the China Open with a left knee injury yesterday, dealing a new blow to tournament organisers. Williams's withdrawal has left the $585,000 tournament without three of its top four seeds. Lindsay Davenport pulled out after winning in Bali at the weekend and Venus's younger sister Serena suffered a shock 6-2 7-6 defeat by China's Sun Tiantian in her opening match. Only world number one Maria Sharapova is still in contention.

Athletics - Noguchi eyes Radcliffe's record

Olympic marathon champion Mizuki Noguchi of Japan will have an eye on Paula Radcliffe's world record in tomorrow's Berlin marathon but conceded she may not yet be ready to break the two-year old mark. "I'd like to run a world record," Noguchi said, referring to Briton Radcliffe's best time of 2 hours 15.25 minutes in London in 2003. "But Paula's record is very, very good. I think I need to get close to it step by step." The Berlin marathon is one of the world's largest marathons with just under 40,000 runners from 103 countries racing through the German capital.

Boxing - Johnson, 35, dies in hospital

Former world lightweight champion Leavander Johnson died in hospital on Thursday, five days after suffering brain damage in a title bout in Las Vegas. The 35-year-old American collapsed while heading to his dressing room after he was stopped in the 11th round of a failed IBF lightweight title defence against Mexico's Jesus Chavez on Saturday.