Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. — Speedskating great Apolo Anton Ohno will decide by the end of the year or early 2012 whether he’ll train for the next Winter Olympics.
Ohno turns 29 this month and would be 31 when the Winter Olympics are held in Sochi, Russia.
He said Monday some people thought he was too old to succeed in the Vancouver Games, where he won three medals. His eight medals over three Games is a record for an American Winter Olympian.
“The Olympic spirit is always going to be within my blood, who I am as a person,” Ohno said at a news conference. “I’m excited for the 2014 Games. I’ll be there for sure. It’s just whether I’ll have my ice skates with me or not.”
Ohno, who isn’t competing in the sport this year, said he has nothing left to prove to himself as a speedskater.
The decision to try for a fourth Olympics would go beyond the chase for medals, he said. He said he must ask himself whether he wants to put his life on hold to invest the time and energy into another Olympics.
Ohno has used his celebrity to become an author, motivational speaker and philanthropist. He also has entered the nutritional supplement industry.
Going for another Olympics would be a high-risk, high-reward endeavor, he said.
“My sport, short-track speedskating, is one where at any given moment anything can happen,” he said. “No matter how well prepared we are for something, a variable could change. You could get disqualified, someone pushes you, you slip, or you’re a second too late.”
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
WASHINGTON — Times are changing in college basketball in the Washington, D.C., area. Mike Lonergan figures that should work to his advantage at George Washington.
Lonergan was formally introduced Monday as GW’s new coach. His arrival comes as Maryland searches for a replacement for Gary Williams, and while Paul Hewitt is settling in as Jim Larranaga’s replacement at George Mason.
• LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two of three Kentucky underclassmen are heading to the NBA as only freshman Terrence Jones opts to return to school.
Junior DeAndre Liggins remained in the draft after hearing positive feedback from several NBA teams at a combine Sunday in New Jersey. A news conference scheduled by Kentucky for Monday to make the announcement has been canceled.
The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft was Sunday night.
Liggins says coach John Calipari encouraged him to return for his season but “it was in the best interests of me and family to stay in the draft.”
Freshman Brandon Knight announced he would remain in the draft on Friday.
Jones, the Associated Press Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year, and junior Darius Miller will be the Wildcats’ two returning starters in 2011-12.
• KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— Tennessee’s all-SEC guard Scotty Hopson is headed to the NBA.
Hopson announced Saturday he’ll enter the draft, but has till midnight Sunday to reconsider. The NBA draft is June 23.
The 6-foot-7 swingman told the Knoxville News Sentinel that he felt the timing was right to leave and that coach Bruce Pearl’s firing “played a lot into my decision.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The expected battle to replace NFL draft choice Blaine Gabbert as Missouri’s starting quarterback is over. His younger brother, Tyler, has decided to transfer.
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel announced Monday that redshirt freshman Tyler Gabbert is leaving the school. He was challenging sophomore James Franklin to succeed Blaine Gabbert.
TENNIS
MADRID — Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on clay for the first time in 10 tries, beating the top-ranked Spaniard 7-5, 6-4 to win the Madrid Open and extend his unbeaten start to the season to 32 matches.
The second-ranked Djokovic squandered a 4-0 lead in the first set, but recovered to end Nadal’s latest winning streak on clay at 37 matches and earn the Serb his third straight victory over Nadal in finals this season.
Djokovic’s sixth title of 2011 allowed him to surpass Bjorn Borg’s 31-match season-opening run in 1980. He trails only John McEnroe’s 42-0 start in 1984.
Djokovic’s run of 34 straight wins since Serbia’s Davis Cup triumph in December is the eighth best of all time.
NFL
NEW YORK — The New York Times is reporting that the NFL is considering having the World Anti-Doping Agency oversee testing of players for performance-enhancing drugs if a federal appeals court forces the league to end the lockout and implement rules for operating the league this season.
The Times cited an unidentified NFL official briefed on its planning.
The newspaper reports bringing in WADA could eventually lead to players being blood tested for human growth hormone for the first time.
The NFL and players are locked in a labor battle that has gone to the courts. The owners are currently locking out the players, who have dissolved their union and sued the owners in federal court.