The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City has lost its first major sponsor as a direct result of the corruption scandal surrounding bidding tactics for the Games. New Jersey-based healthcare products group Johnson & Johnson has withdrawn its £20 million support for the event.
John McKeegan, a spokesman for the company, said: "It was always going to be in the back of people's minds."
Salt Lake Organising Committee officials remain confident that they will raise the £200 million still needed to meet the near £1 billion cost of putting on the Games.
Investigations have revealed that the city's bid committee offered almost £1 million in bribes to IOC members to help secure the right to stage the Games.
Athletics: Olivia Kelleher emphasised her claims to a place in Ireland's Europa Cup team by improving on her national hammer throwing record at Manchester on Sunday, writes Peter Byrne. Kelleher got out to 56.34 metres added 12 centimetres to the record she set before the World Championships two years ago.
Elaine Fitzgerald, the Waterford athlete who is now based in Alabama, also made a good start to the season when winning a 3,000 metres race in California with a time of nine minutes 7.4 seconds. Roman Linscheid, Ireland's probable first choice in the men's hammer competition, was credited with a throw of 72.38 metres during the Long Beach Relays meeting.
Tennis: Boris Becker withdrew from the Monte Carlo Open yesterday after the death of his father Karl-Heinz from stomach cancer.
"I am very, very sad. I admired my father and I owe him a lot," the three-times Wimbledon champion said. "In this difficult situation I have to and want to be close to my family. Especially my mother needs me."
Golf: Tiger Woods will bid for back to back Johnnie Walker Classic crowns in November when the Asian tournament becomes the first to be run under the auspices of three PGA tours - European, US and Asian. The 23-year-old American will defend his title from November 11-14th at the Ta Shee Golf and Country Club on the outskirts of Taipei.
