In brief - 2004-05-13

The Estonian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation last week posed a two-year competition ban on Marek Kalmus for repeated use of prohibited substances. Kalmus, 33, is one of Estonia's most honored bodybuilders. He has won the last several national championships in the over-90- kilograms weight category and in 2002 he became the WWF world and European fitness champion. It is the second time in four years he has been caught using banned steroids. A lab in Helsinki, Finland, discovered diureticum in Kalmus' probe, a chemical agent that is used to cover the usage of banned steroids. Arnold Tokko, the president of the Estonian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, said the federation would not tolerate the use of banned substances by the famous Estonian bodybuilder.

English soccer champions Arsenal added another record of sorts to its impressive season when the club's French striker Thierry Henry became the first player to be named England's Footballer of the Year in successive seasons. The French international striker won a remarkable 87 percent of the votes cast by the English Football Writers' Association. Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard came second, with Henry's Arsenal and France team mate Patrick Vieira third. Two weeks earlier Henry was also voted Players' Player of the Year for the second successive season. The striker has scored 37 goals this season, 29 of which were in the Premier League.

The will-it or won't-it saga surrounding the now-infamous roof of the Olympic Stadium in Athens has at last been resolved. Workers and IOV officials celebrated as the giant arch was successfully raised into place on May 10. However, the process is extremely slow, and so far the first half of the roof has only been moved about two meters into position. It's expected to be fully in place by the end of the week. The minister overseeing the building work for the Olympics, Fanni Petralia, smashed a bottle at wine on the foot of the arch of the roof as it began to slide toward the stadium.

The England rugby team was named Team of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards. Sir Clive Woodward's team beat off some impressive competition to scoop the award, such as Italian soccer champions AC Milan, the Australian cricket team and Ferrari.