Reigning world champion Luke Kibet confirmed Thursday that he will run the Singapore Marathon next month, boosting an event that has plans to grow into a recognised international event.

Kibet, a prison guard, was the first Kenyan in 20 years to win the world marathon gold when he crossed the line in 2hrs 15mins 59secs at Osaka last year.

Chinese sprint hurdler Liu Xiang is almost certain to undergo an operation on the injury which forced him out of the Beijing Olympics, his trainer was quoted by local media as saying Wednesday.

Surgery is the only way of clearing up the problem caused by a build-up of calcium on Liu`s right foot, said Sun Haiping, according to the Beijing-based China Daily newspaper.

Ethiopian running great Kenenisa Bekele said on Sunday he was unsure as to which distance he would target for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The 26-year-old 5,000 metres and 10,000m Olympic champion said he was deliberating over whether to run the 10,000m or the marathon.

PARIS, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - France's 400m hurdles Olympic bronze medallist Naman Keita was on Wednesday banned for two years after testing positive for testosterone.

Keita failed the urine test at a training camp before the Osaka world athletics championships in August, leading to the ban handed out by the French athletics federation.

He explained last month that he had been advised to take a dietary supplement to help muscle regeneration and had gone and ordered it off the internet.

CHICAGO, Oct 7, 2007 (AFP) - The Chicago Marathon was cancelled mid-run Sunday after a record-breaking heat wave killed one person and sent more than 350 to hospital, officials said.

But thousands of runners ignored official warnings and ploughed on through the race even as temperatures soared to 31 degrees Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) and overloaded aid stations ran out of water.

'We tried blocking the route and people just ran through the police line or jumped over their bikes,' said Joe Roccasalva, a spokesman for the Chicago fire department which oversaw race safety.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - BALCO, the San Francisco lab that peddled performance enhancing drugs to athletes, continues to rock the sports world four years after it became a byword for cheating.

Marion Jones, once the golden girl of US athletics, Friday pleaded guilty to lying to a federal agent about her use of drugs during the investigation of the company that billed itself as a vitamin and nutritional supplement supplier.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones shouldn't wait to be stripped of her Olympic medals, but should return them as a gesture to athletes who didn't cheat, US Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said Friday.

'After years of denying that she used banned substances, Ms. Jones has finally decided to come forward and admit the truth. Her admission is long overdue and underscores the shame and dishonor that are inherent with cheating,' Ueberroth said.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - After years of dodging doping allegations, US track star Marion Jones admitted on Friday that she had taken banned steroids, in a move that could see her stripped of her Olympic medals.

Jones, 31, appeared in a court in White Plains, New York, where she pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to federal agents over her drug use and an unrelated fraud charge, for which she now faces up to 10 years in jail.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Tearful US track star Marion Jones said Friday she had broken the trust of her fans and announced she was retiring from the sport after admitting in court to taking steroids.

'It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you to tell you that I have betrayed ... your trust,' the Olympic gold medal winner told a crowd gathered outside the courtroom in White Plains, New York.

WHITE PLAINS, New York, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - Track star Marion Jones pleaded guilty on Friday to lying about her use of banned drugs to US agents, in a move that could see the American sprinter put behind bars.

Jones, 31, who has dodged doping allegations for years, entered the plea at a US District Court in New York state.

In a statement read out to the court, Jones admitted using the steroid THG, produced by the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative (BALCO) and known as 'the clear,' between September 2000 and July 2001.