Tuesday's sports briefs

Grete Waitz never had run a marathon before the New York City race in 1978. After it, her name and New York would be forever linked.

The lean Norwegian middle-distance runner, who had set two world-records in the 3,000 meters, was invited to the race as a "rabbit," someone brought in to set a fast early pace for the favorite runners.

Two-thirds through that first marathon, she suffered so hard that she cursed her husband, Jack, for talking her into it.

"I was hurting. I was mad. I was angry. I told Jack: 'Never again!'" she recalled in 2008, 30 years later.

But in all that rage she found strength. Not only did she win the race, she set a world record -- the first of three. And "never again" turned into eight more victories in the New York Marathon, a world championship gold medal, an Olympic silver and a place among the greatest marathon runners of all time.

Waitz died Tuesday at age 57 in a hospital in her native Oslo after a six-year battle with cancer. Her husband was by her side, said Helle Aanesen, who co-founded a cancer foundation with Waitz. There was no word on what type of cancer felled the marathon legend, who disclosed no details about her condition after being diagnosed in 2005.

Setting a world record in her first marathon was revealing of Waitz's character. She always pushed boundaries for herself. And in doing so, she broke barriers for women in sports -- perhaps more than she ever imagined.

Waitz won the marathon gold medal at the inaugural world championships in 1983. A year later in Los Angeles, she took second in the first women's Olympic marathon.

She won the London Marathon twice, in 1983 and 1986, the Stockholm Marathon in 1988 and earned five titles at the world cross-country championships from 1978 to 1981 and 1983. Her last New York Marathon victory came in 1988.

Boston officials apply to get world record

Boston Marathon officials say they will apply to the international track governing body to have Geoffrey Mutai's winning time of 2 hours, 3 minutes, 2 seconds certified as a world record.

IAAF rules say the Boston course is ineligible to set a record because it is technically downhill. The course's layout also allows for a tailwind that wouldn't be possible on a loop course like the governing body prefers. But Boston officials say that the 115-year history of the race shows it is not an artificially fast course.

The Hall of Fame coach and college basketball analyst for ESPN blasted Calipari's habit of recruiting players who spend just a year on campus before bolting for the NBA during a speaking engagement in Indiana last weekend.

Knight said in a brief statement released by ESPN on Tuesday: "My overall point is that 'one-and-dones' are not healthy for college basketball. I should not have made it personal to Kentucky and its players and I apologize."

In other college basketball news: Kentucky freshman guard Doron Lamb will return to school next year while Northwestern junior forward John Shurna declared for the NBA draft. ... Kansas forward Thomas Robinson was cited with misdemeanor battery after a fight at a nightclub.

Golf: Dustin Johnson split up with his caddie, who was on the bag during two chances to win a major last year and was involved in the American star nearly missing his tee time at Riviera. Johnson's agent described the split with Bobby Brown as mutual, and that it was not clear whether the move was permanent.