Tennis: World number one Martina Hingis has said that Richard Williams's claims of racism directed at his daughters Venus and Serena in Indian Wells are "nonsense".
"I definitely don't feel there is racism on the tour," she said. "I mean, it's a very international sport.
"Maybe (by being) black, they have a lot of other advantages because they can always say it's racism or something like that, and it's not the case at all.
"Not from my standpoint. I don't care who is on the other side, I treat them with respect."
Williams said racism - and not Venus's decision to pull out of her semi-final against Serena at the last minute - was responsible for the crowd's hostile reaction at the Indian Wells tournament 10 days ago.
Swimming: Ian Thorpe claimed his second world record in 24 hours in Hobart, Australia, yesterday by reclaiming the 200-metre freestyle mark in one minute 44.69 seconds at the national championships.
The 18-year-old triple Olympic gold medallist bettered the previous record of 1:45.35 set by Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband at last year's Sydney Olympics.
Thorpe's achievement gives him the 13th world record of his career - the most by any Australian male swimmer in history.
Cricket: Romesh Kaluwitharana blasted a superb unbeaten century as Sri Lanka sent England reeling to their heaviest one-day defeat and complete a clean sweep of the one-day international series 3-0.
Kaluwitharana smashed 102 off 117 balls - including 20 fours - as Sri Lanka romped to a crushing 10-wicket win, the first time in 325 one-dayers England have ever been beaten by such a margin.
England made 165-9 from their allotted 50 overs. Sri Lanka replied with 166 without loss to avenge their 2-1 loss in the Test series.
Equestrian sport: Ireland were yesterday given the chance of having two runners at the World Cup showjumping finals in Gothenburg over Easter, reports Grania Willis.
But although Jessica Kurten will be taking up the slot offered to her, Peter Charles says he is almost certainly a non-runner as his horses are stranded in Holland due to the animal movement ban.
The foot-and-mouth crisis, which has brought equestrian sport to a standstill at home, meant the cancellation of both the Dutch World Cup qualifier last weekend and this week's Spanish round. Peter Charles's three horses were en route to the Dutch fixture when the authorities clamped down on all animal transport.
Olympics: Newly-elected Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe sweetened France's bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games yesterday by offering organisers the use of the sumptuous city hall.
Delanoe, who led a leftist coalition to a historic victory in elections this month, said during a review visit by International Olympic Committee members that he would place the palatial building at the disposal of the Games organisers if Paris won.
Paris is bidding against Beijing, Osaka, Toronto and Istanbul to host the Games and a decision is expected in July.
Hockey: The Irish Hockey Association has announced the cancellation of this season's All-Ireland girls schools finals because of the foot-and-mouth crisis.
They have also confirmed that Ireland will not be participating in the women's under-21 Celtic Cup in Scotland next month or the under-18 International Youth Tournament in Holland where Loreto Bray and Ashton Grammar School were to be the Irish representatives.
Also, the Corinthians-promoted Dublin Easter Festival, which annually attracts many teams from Britain and the Continent, has been called off.
