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Al Campbell

The achievements of three stars named Michael - Jordan, Tyson and Johnson - highlighted American sport during the past year.

  In his first full season since an 18-month retirement to play baseball, Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to a National Basketball Association (NBA) regular season record of 72 wins against only 10 losses.

  Then, in the playoffs, aided by the strong rebounding of the controversial but colourful Dennis Rodman, Jordan and the Bulls beat the Seattle SuperSonics four games to two to win their fourth league title in six years.

   Jordan was named the most valuable player for both the regular season and the playoffs. The Bulls' immediate concern is to sign Jordan and Rodman who are seeking a minimum of US$18 million and US$7 million per season respectively. Coach Phil Jackson recently extended his association with the team.

    Heavyweight boxing saw the return of former champion Tyson after three years in prison. Tyson floored little-known Peter McNeely in 89 seconds in his August 19 comeback fight.

  After beating Buster Mathis Junior in a non-title fight, he captured the World Boxing Council heavyweight belt with a third round technical knockout of Briton Frank Bruno. He is scheduled to fight Bruce Seldon for the World Boxing Association crown later this month.

   Michael Johnson broke Pietro Mennea's 17-year-old world record for 200 metres at the US Olympic trials in Atlanta last week with a time of 19.66 seconds, six one-hundredths of a second faster than any other man in history.

  It was Johnson's 21st consecutive 200 metres win and broke the longest standing world record in athletics. The world champion also recorded his 53rd consecutive 400 metres win at the trials and is on course for an unprecedented double at the Atlanta Olympic Games this month.

   Pete Sampras, the world tennis No 1 who began the defence of his Wimbledon crown last week, gave local fans an insight into his power in April when he beat crowd favourite Michael Chang to win the Salem Hong Kong Open.

  Sampras is vying for his fourth straight title at Wimbledon where his seeded compatriots Chang, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier have suffered first round exits.

   After losing the World Series in 1991 and 1992, the Atlanta Braves baseball team last year brought the state of Georgia its first major league championship.

  Led by the excellent pitching of Cy Young award winners Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, the Braves swept the Cincinnati Reds four games to nil to win the National League Championship and then defeated the Cleveland Indians in six games to win the World Series.

  The league received extra media attention during the season as Baltimore's Cal Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig's mark of 2,130 consecutive games, while Japanese rookie pitching sensation Hideo Nomo, of the Los Angeles Dodgers, led the National League in strike outs. He would later be named the National League Rookie of the Year.

  Colorado also received its first major league championship as the Denver-based Colorado Avalanche won the National Hockey League's greatest prize, the Stanley Cup.

  The Avalanche, which had previously toiled in Quebec as the Nordiques for 16 seasons, relocated to Colorado last year.

    After beating Vancouver, Chicago and league-leading Detroit in the preliminary rounds, the Avalanche trounced the upstart Florida Panthers four games to nil in the final.

  On the grid iron, two key interceptions by cornerback Larry Brown set up Dallas touchdowns as the Cowboys won their third Superbowl in four years 27-17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

  Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman connected on 15-of-23 passes for 209 yards to run his Superbowl record to a perfect 3-0. With the win, the Cowboys join the San Francisco 49ers as the only club to win five Superbowls.

  Professional soccer returned to the US as the 10-team Major League Soccer was formed to build on interest created in the game during the 1994 World Cup held in the US.

 Nearly 70,000 people turned out to watch the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the New York/New Jersey MetroStars 2-1 at game in California earlier this year.



Stars show their stripes