Whistler, Canada  - Jay Vincent of France swept to a surprise win Wednesday in the men's 20-kilometre individual biathlon in Whistler, host venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

He skied to victory in 49 minutes 53.9 seconds and got off four perfect shots on the marksman range.

Germany's Daniel Boehm (50 min 12.9 seconds) and Jeremy Teela of the US (50 min 17.2 seconds) followed in second and third place.

Indian Wells, California  - Jelena Dokic stumbled to another disheartening defeat six weeks after her surprise Australian Open quarter-final, crashing out in a haze in the first round of the Indian Wells Masters on Wednesday.

The Australian, whose comeback story from a career gone wrong thrilled a nation in Melbourne, was humbled by veteran American Jill Craybas 6-4, 6-2.

Dokic, ranked 80th, was playing only her second WTA match since the Open and admitted she may have gotten her scheduling badly wrong.

London  - Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted his side had been stretched by Inter Milan in their Champions League meeting on Wednesday.

United won 2-0, but never achieved the sort of fluency or domination they had in the first leg - a goalless draw - in Milan a fortnight ago.

"It was a toughish kind of match," Ferguson said. "Inter played a different kind of football.

"They're a side with fantastic experience - very difficult to break down.

Whistler, Canada  - Germany's Simone Hauswald won the second biathlon World Cup event of her career Wednesday when she claimed victory in the women's 15-kilometre individual race at Whistler, host venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The 29-year-old, who came second in this year's world championships, was perfect in the shooting range as she skied to victory in a time of 42 minutes 44.6 seconds.

Madrid - Doubts have been raised in Spain about the stunning 8.71 metres long jump by unheralded German Sebastian Bayer at last weekend's European indoor championships in Turin, Italy.

News reports on Wednesday quoted Spanish athletics chief Jose Maria Odriozola as saying that one judge may have made a wrong measurement.

"I have the feeling that - apart from the advantage of the run-up track - a measuring error occurred," Odriozola said.

The official said that he was close to the long jump pit and said that one judge "had been measuring wrongly all day."

St Petersburg - Portugal defender Fernando Meira leaves Galatasaray Istanbul for Zenit St Petersburg with immediate effect, the UEFA Cup holders from Russia announced on Wednesday.

Zenit said on their website that Meira, 30, has signed a three-year-contract. The transfer fee has been estimated at 6 million euros (7.6 million dollars).

Meira joined the Turkish top club Galatasaray last summer after more than six years at Germany's VfB Stuttgart, but has fallen out of favour there recently.