Byline: Associated Press
BOSTON - This is the year the Kenyans will face a homegrown challenge at the Boston Marathon, and it's not from the American runners or the undulations of Heartbreak Hill.
It's the New England weather: wet and windy and certain only to make things unpredictable when the world's longest-running annual marathon leaves Hopkinton for the 26.2-mile slog to Boston's Back Bay this morning.
'We are not used to that,' said Joseph Kigora , part of a strong contingent trying to bring Kenya its 15th men's victory in 17 years.
Defending champions Robert Cheruiyot and Rita Jeptoo are back, but the weather won't be at all like the calm and clear 53 weather for last year's Kenyan sweep. Forecasts call for 3-5 inches of rain, start temperatures in the mid- to upper 30s, and wind gusts blowing in runners' faces at up to 25 mph.
PRO FOOTBALL
Pro Bowl guard Will Shields is retiring after 14 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Shields, 35, announced his decision on his Web site. He said the physical requirements of football had become more difficult with each passing day.
GYMNASTICS
Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton left the NCAA men's gymnastics championships with two individual titles and a school record.
Horton won the floor exercise and horizontal bar Saturday night to give him five career NCAA individual titles, breaking Bart Conner 's school record of three.
SAILING
Having once held the longest winning streak in sports, Americans will try to start a new one when the America's Cup begins today with the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series in Valencia, Spain.
Sole U.S. team and challenger of record BMW Oracle Racing begins its campaign for the Auld Mug with match races against newcomers United Internet Germany Team and China Team, the bottom two in the 11-team challenger rankings.
The draw should provide Oracle CEO Larry Ellison 's team with a comfortable start on its two-month quest for an America's Cup finals showdown with defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland.
TENNIS
Jelena Jankovic won the biggest match of her career, battling a swirling wind to defeat Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2 in the championship of the $1.3 million Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.
It was the first Tier I final and victory for Jankovic, who was seeded second here and will improve to No. 7 in the rankings.
Unseeded Ivo Karlovic used his booming serve to stop qualifier Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina 6-4, 6-1 to win the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston and capture his first ATP tour title.
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PHOTO
Andy Lyons/Getty Images JELENA JANKOVIC will improve to No. 7 in the women's tennis rankings after her victory over Dinara Safina in the Family Circle Cup.
