Athletics

Barney Ewell, a former world 100 metres record holder and three- times Olympic medallist, has died, aged 78. Ewell won an Olympic gold in 1948 as part of the US 400m relay team and silver in the 100m and 200m.

Romania agreed to allow Alina Astafei, the Romanian-born world indoor high jump champion, to compete for her adopted country, Germany, at the Olympic Games after a 4-3 vote of the Romania's National Olympic Committee yesterday. Astafei moved to Germany in 1993 but was banned from competing for three years by Romanian officials who were worried that more athletes might go west.