Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay served notice they will be ready to challenge Usain Bolt at the London Olympics in the 100 meters after qualifying for the Games with impressive times.

Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic champion who could not defend his crown in Beijing while serving a four-year doping ban, won the 100 final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in 9.80 seconds, the third-best time in the world this year.

Saudi Arabia, where public sports events for women are banned, will allow females to compete in the Olympic Games for the first time, its embassy in London said in a landmark statement.

The Saudi Olympic Committee will "oversee participation of women athletes who can qualify", the BBC quoted the statement as saying.

Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won an incident-filled European Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first driver to win two races this season, while Michael Schumacher earned a first podium finish since his comeback by coming third.

Alonso jousted his way up from 11th on the starting grid to claim an emotional victory for the Spaniard in front of his home fans after pole sitter Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull stalled on the track midway through the race.

Italy rounded off the quartet of Euro 2012 semi-finalists on Sunday as England once again exited a major finals in a penalty shootout.

Both sides had failed to find the net in 120 minutes of play, though Italy had been unfortunate not to win it well before they prevailed 4-2 on penalties as England's Ashley Young and Ashley Cole failed to convert their spot kicks.

Spain moved a step closer to an unprecedented treble of consecutive major international honors by beating France 2-0 in Donetsk on Saturday to reach the Euro 2012 semi-finals.

Goals in each half from Xabi Alonso, on his 100th international appearance, sent the world and European champions into a semi-final with Iberian rivals Portugal in the same Donbass Arena stadium on Wednesday.

French Open champion Maria Sharapova has warned her rivals for the Wimbledon title that she is determined to cap her remarkable return to the top with back to back grand slam triumphs.

After several years struggling to recover from shoulder surgery, Sharapova defeated Sara Errani in the French Open final at Roland Garros earlier this month to secure her first major since 2008 and complete a career grand slam.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong asked a US Anti-Doping Agency review board on Friday to dismiss "spurious" allegations brought against him last week.

Armstrong's attorney Robert Luskin replied to USADA's claims that the famed U.S. cyclist was part of a doping conspiracy in an 18-page letter obtained by the Washington Post and linked to Armstrong's Twitter account.

Three-time world footballer of the year Lionel Messi told The Times on Saturday that he will retire from football the day he feels he is no longer having fun.

The 24-year-old Argentinian - who scored 73 goals in 60 games for Barcelona last season, breaking the European club record of 67 goals set by Bayern Munich's Gerd Mueller in 1972-73 - hinted that for him the fun was going out of the game in general.

Germany booked their place in the last four of Euro 2012 as Joachim Loew's side hammered Greece 4-2 on Friday after dominating their quarter-final.

Germany ran riot as captain Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, veteran striker Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus all got on the score-sheet to cancel out Giorgos Samaras' and Dimitris Salpingidis' second-half strikes for the Greeks.

Six-time champion Boca Juniors is through to another Copa Libertadores final after holding Universidad de Chile to a 0-0 draw on Thursday, winning the semifinal 2-0 on aggregate.

The Argentine club had won the first leg 2-0 last week at home and managed the scoreless result in Chile to clinch its 10th final in Latin America's premier competition.