As Atlanta Games Approach, Olympics Berths Rapidly Fill

Twelve years after he won two cycling medals at the Los Angeles Olympics, Steve Hegg earned a chance Sunday to add to his total at Atlanta.

Hegg, 32, of Dana Point, Calif., finished second behind Frankie Andreu in the points standings after a five-race series to decide which two cyclists get automatic berths on the U.S. team.

Andreu, 29, of Dearborn, Mich., came in third in the competition’s final event, a 137-mile road race in Charlotte, N.C., helping him overtake Hegg for the No. 1 spot in the final standings.

Andreu wound up with 195 points to 177 for Hegg, who was 11th after winning two time-trial events and a road race earlier in the competition.

Already selected for the men’s five-member team was Lance Armstrong, the world’s top-ranked cyclist. U.S. Cycling Federation officials excused Armstrong from the trials.

The final two members of the team were to be selected by the federation’s coaches today.

In women’s racing, Alison Dunlap, 26, was one of three named to the U.S. road cycling team. The others are Jeanne Golay and Linda Brenneman, who finished 1-2 in Saturday’s Olympic trials road race at Boiling Springs, N.C.

Equestrian spots clinched

At Devon, Pa., Anne Kursinski and Michael Matz clinched spots on the U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team by jumping fault-free rounds during trials at the Devon Horse Show.

Kursinski, of Flemington, N.J., an Olympic silver medalist in 1988, finished with a perfect score on an Australian thoroughbred named Eros.

Matz, a two-time Olympian from Collegeville, Pa., rode a french sport horse named Rhum IV in capturing the second Olympics spot with four penalties.

Greco-Roman wrestling berths determined

At Concord, Calif., Rodney Smith, a 1992 bronze medalist tormented by injuries the past four years, was one of 10 Americans to claim Olympics spots by winning in the trials in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Smith, 30, who has battled back from fractured back vertebrae and knee injuries, beat Chris Saba in the best-of-three finals to claim an Olympic spot in the lightweight (150 pounds) class.

Other winners were light flyweight Mujaahid Maynard; flyweight Brandon Paulson; bantamweight Dennis Hall, one of only two U.S. world champions in the sport’s history; featherweight David Zuniga; welterweight Gordy Morgan; middleweight Dan Henderson; heavyweight Jason Gleasman; light heavyweight Derrick Waldroup; and super heavyweight Matt Ghaffari.

Australia earns last soccer berth

At Sydney, Australia, Australia’s under-23 team routed Canada’s under-23 team 5-0 to claim the last berth for the men’s Olympic soccer tournament.

Australia won the home-and-home series 7-2, and will play in Group B. Australia opens against France on July 20 at Miami, plays Saudi Arabia on July 22 at Miami and closes the first round against Spain on July 24 at Orlando, Fla.

For the rich and impulsive …

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games already has sold about 7.5 million tickets, but there are still more than 3.5 million available by telephone and through the Internet. Those tickets range in price from less than $10 to $265.

And 107 of the 223 luxury suites in the Olympics venues throughout Atlanta can still be bought - for between $400,000 and $500,000 each. If you’re looking for a one-day, big-splash, you can have a suite at the Olympic Stadium for $39,600.

Thousands of private homes are still available, and Delta Air Lines has plenty of space on its planes. Hertz has lots of rental cars available.

In the past two months alone, ACOG has released 750 hotel rooms back to hotel owners because it doesn’t need them. If you want one of these rooms, however, it’s good to know someone in a corporation involved in the Games.

“What this means is there’s still time for people to be part of the Olympic experience,” said Scott Anderson, ACOG’s managing director for games services.