Plushenko Continues Russia’s Winning Streak

Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won the men’s title at the world figure skating championships Thursday in Dortmund, Germany, defeating French rival Brian Joubert with a technically daring program.

Joubert, who defeated Plushenko at the European championships, was second, and Stefan Lindemann of Germany finished third.

Plushenko previously won in 2001 and 2003. It was the seventh consecutive world title for Russian men.

Johnny Weir of Newark, Del., was fifth and Michael Weiss of Fairfax, Va., sixth, marking the first time since 1994 that an American man failed to win a medal.

Neither American landed a clean quadruple jump -- Weiss two-footed his attempt and Weir didn’t try. But Weir did eight triples in his first world championship appearance.

Pushing the sport’s technical limits, Plushenko, 21, had two quadruple jumps -- including one in a three-jump combination. He also had a unique triple axel-triple flip sequence, the first completed in a major competition.

Plushenko received marks that included four 6.0s for artistry.

He received technical merit scores that included 10 5.9s from the 14 judges.

Tennis

The schedule of first-round matches at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Fla., was limited to unseeded players and abbreviated because of a rain delay of nearly five hours.

In men’s play, Taylor Dent beat Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3, 6-3. Jan-Michael Gambill, the runner-up in 2001, lost to Lars Burgsmuller, 7-5, 6-4.

Rain delayed the resumption of a match between Thomas Enqvist and Nicolas Lapentti, which was suspended Wednesday night because of a power outage with Lapentti leading, 7-5, 1-3.

Serena Williams, winner of six Grand Slam-event singles titles, has cut ties with her agents at IMG, and has signed with the William Morris Agency, it was announced.

Williams had been represented by IMG for the last four years.

Jurisprudence

A Colorado football player was accused of raping a woman when he was a recruit, bringing to eight the number of such allegations involving the team, the Rocky Mountain News reported.

University officials said Wednesday they learned of the nearly 4-year-old accusation about two weeks ago and are investigating.

No charges have been filed in any of the cases in which allegations were made against a Colorado football player or recruit since 1997. The cases are being investigated by state Atty. Gen. Ken Salazar and a commission appointed by the university’s board of regents.

The football player was accused of raping a woman in the Denver area in 2000, after he had signed with the school but before he attended his first practice, the newspaper reported. The newspaper did not identify the player.

The gun Jayson Williams had when he shot a chauffeur more than two years ago was “an accident waiting to happen,” a defense ballistics expert said in the manslaughter trial of the retired NBA player in Somerville, N.J.

Richard Ernest, who formerly worked for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and is now a private consultant, said the combination of debris in the shotgun’s firing mechanism and the wear of its parts made the weapon susceptible to misfiring.

Miscellany

Safety Brock Marion signed a four-year contract with the Detroit Lions. The Miami Dolphins released the 11-year veteran this month to free salary-cap space.... Running back Garrison Hearst signed with the Denver Broncos. The 11-year veteran became a free agent when the San Francisco 49ers released him last month.

The Connecticut Sun completed a three-way trade with the Washington Mystics and Phoenix Mercury. The Mystics sent Asjha Jones, a 6-foot-2 post player, to the Sun and acquired guard Tamicha Jackson from the Mercury. Phoenix, which has the first pick in next month’s WNBA draft, gets the Sun’s eighth pick.

Auburn’s Fred Bousquet broke the world record in the 50-meter freestyle at the NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships at East Meadow, N.Y.

Teammate George Bovell also broke the world record for the 200 individual medley in 1 minute, 53.93 seconds.

Bousquet, who had to win a swim-off for the eighth and last spot in the final, won in 21.10. The swimmers were competing in a 25-meter pool, as opposed to 50-meter lengths they would swim in Olympic competition.

T.J. Simers is on vacation.