Sports briefs

OLYMPICS

Golf, rugby voted into Games

COPENHAGEN -- Golf has a tee time for 2016, and Tiger Woods can hardly wait.

The sport returns to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 amid the spectacular backdrop of Rio de Janeiro's sand and sea.

Olympic officials had no sooner voted in golf -- along with rugby -- than Woods and his fellow players cheered their chance to finally compete on sports' biggest stage. They will compete for Olympic medals, but the greater promise is that the game catches on in countries where golfers are few and golf courses are even fewer.

"I think it's great for golf," Woods said from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. "It's a perfect fit for the Olympics, and I think we are all looking forward to golf getting into the Olympics."

Golf was approved 63-27 with two abstentions, while rugby won near unanimous acclaim in an 81-8 vote with one abstention. They are the first sports added since triathlon and taekwondo joined the program for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The vote was a reversal of the IOC's decision four years ago to reject golf and rugby for the 2012 Olympics, and brings the number of summer Olympic sports back to 28. There have been two openings on the program since baseball and softball were dropped in 2005 for the 2012 London Games.

In other Olympic news:

• Jacques Rogge, a 67-year-old Belgian, easily won re-election as president of the International Olympic Committee for a final four-year term. He has been the IOC president since 2001.

  NBA

  Howard's return date uncertain

WASHINGTON -- Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle isn't sure when swingman Josh Howard will be able to play after offseason surgery on his left ankle.

Asked whether Howard could miss the start of the regular season, Carlisle replied: "Stay tuned."

"Giving a timetable was probably a mistake. We have to play this by ear," Carlisle said. "I'll probably announce it the day he is going to play -- whether that is in two weeks or a month or a month and a half."

Dallas opens the regular season Oct. 27.

In other NBA news:

• Center Brendan Haywood left the Washington Wizards' exhibition game against the Dallas Mavericks last night with a sprained right ankle.

• Sacramento Kings swingman Francisco Garcia will have surgery after breaking his right forearm while lifting weights. There is no timeline for when he might return.

  NHL

  13 hurt in escalator mishap

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues said that a three-story escalator at the Scottrade Center would remain shut down during an investigation into why it malfunctioned, injuring 13 people, following the team's home opener.

The escalator was crowded with spectators when it broke down around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

"From what I could tell from looking at it, it looked like the bottom four steps collapsed," said Capt. Bob Keuss with the St. Louis Fire Department.

Four adults and a child were taken to hospitals. Keuss described the injuries as not serious, from twisted ankles to sore backs and necks.

In other NHL news:

• St. Louis Blues defenseman Barret Jackman has been placed on injured reserve with a sprained left ankle. Jackman has three assists and four penalty minutes in three games.

• Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen is out for at least four months with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. ELSEWHERE

• Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen has withdrawn from the first Grand Prix figure skating event of the season because of tendinitis in her right calf. The 2006 runner-up at the Turin Games is making a comeback after not competing since the 2006 world championships. But she said she will not skate at the Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris after consultation with an orthopedic surgeon.

• Rachel Alexandra's owner said his star 3-year-old filly is finished racing for the year. Rachel Alexandra, which went 8-0 including a victory in the Preakness Stakes, will spend the rest of the year at Churchill Downs, then resume training for a 4-year-old campaign that would likely wind up with a career-ending race in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

• Barry Bonds handed out T-shirts, posed for pictures and romped with young patients as the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center opened a playroom bearing his name. The home run king said he hoped the Barry Bonds Family Foundation Playroom would provide children a place to relax while staying at the hospital. Bonds paid about $250,000 for the renovation, according to the executive director of UCSF Children's Hospital.

• Nathan Smith built a big lead early and cruised to a 7-and-6 victory over Tim Spitz for his second title in the USGA Mid-Amateur at Kiawah Island, S.C. Smith also won the event in 2003. AROUND THE STATE

A class of eight will be inducted into the Central Virginia ASA Hall of Fame on Nov. 14 at The Place at Innsbrook. The inductees for 2009 will be: Sonny Bryant, Ronnie Cloud, Charlie Daniels, Carol Estes-Williams, Hal Harrison, Scott Southworth, Tom Tudor and Barbara DeCatur (posthumously). For more information, call Don Clatterbaugh at 746-0930 or 683-0110. Tickets may be purchase by calling Southworth at 330-3135 or 919-3303. -- From Staff and Wire Reports