Monte Carlo - Athletics' controlling body IAAF said Monday that the Golden League would be scrapped and replaced by a new circuit called IAAF Diamond League starting in 2010.

In a statement released by the IAAF in Monte Carlo the organization said the new series would also be held outside Europe thereby meeting one of their strategic goals, which is to enhance the worldwide appeal of athletics.

Liberec, Czech Republic - Petter Northug used his deadly kick again, against German Axel Teichmann, to give Norway its fifth straight men's relay cross-country skiing world title on Friday.

The pursuit champion Northug made his trademark staccato steps in the final turn before the home stretch to win the 4x10-kilometres race with Eldar Roenning, Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset and Tore Ruud Hofstad in 1 hour 41 minutes 50.6 seconds.

Johannesburg  - South Africa's amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius underwent emergency surgery in a Johannesburg hospital Sunday following a boating accident, the Sapa news agency reported.

"We are not sure what happened at this stage, we are still trying to establish it," Pistorius's manager Peet van Zyl said.

Meanwhile local radio reported that Pistorius, who is nicknamed "Blade Runner" because of the prosthetic legs that enable him to sprint, was in a serious but stable condition and had been placed on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in Milpark Hospital.

Hamburg - The International Biathlon Union (IBU) on Thursday provisinally suspended the athletes who submitted positive doping tests at the World Cup opener in December.

The announcement came little more than a week ahead of the world championships in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from which these - allegedly three Russian - athletes are now barred even if the case is not solved by then.

The IBU said that "the substance found in the positive a-samples of the athletes are non-specified substances of the WADA Prohibited List.

Berlin - German organizers have sold almost 200,000 of the 500,000 tickets on offer for the world athletics championships in Berlin, it was announced on Thursday.

Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit spoke of "strong demand at this early stage" at a news conference in which the organizing committee also said it was "on track" in its preparations for the August 15-23 event.

Ticket sales are to generate 15 million euros (19.4 million dollars) for the overall event budget of 44 million euros.

Hamburg  - German 800 metres runner Rene Harms was found dead in his flat on Saturday with police saying on Sunday that a post-mortem will determine the cause of his death. He was 26.