SAN ANTONIO A LEADING CANDIDATE TO HOST 2007 PAN AM GAMES?

          Miami has "withdrawn as a candidate" to host the 2007
     Pan Am Games, "leaving only" San Antonio and Raleigh-Durham
     as "contenders," according to Jerry Briggs of the SAN
     ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS.  San Antonio Sports Foundation Exec
     Dir Susan Blackwood, on Miami's bid: "They just weren't able
     to get the community and government support that they
     needed."  Blackwood said that Miami's withdrawal was "linked
     to a controversy over the potential appearance" of Cuban
     athletes in a Junior Pan Am Track and Field competition. 
     Briggs reports that the Pan Am Sports Organization "will
     select" the host city in 2002.  Blackwood said that San
     Antonio "would be the perfect host city because of its
     Hispanic-cultural heritage, facilities and organizational
     know-how."  Blackwood: "We're not discounting Raleigh.  They
     have a lot to offer.  But we want to take the Games to
     another level" (SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, 8/25).