South Africa's Oscar Pistorius has reopened the debate about whether artificial blades give amputee runners an unfair advantage after sensationally losing his T44 200m title at the London Paralympics.

The 25-year-old "Blade Runner", so-called because he runs on carbon fiber prostheses, was beaten into silver by Brazil's Alan Oliveira on Sunday evening, stunning the 80,000-strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium into silence.

Fernando Alonso said he felt fortunate to have escaped serious injury in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix when he was almost struck by Romain Grosjean's airborne Lotus.

Spaniard Alonso of Ferrari was left as a stranded victim of a multiple collision triggered by Frenchman Grosjean's impetuous aggression.

Champions Juventus underlined their Serie A title credentials by going top as Inter Milan were humbled 3-1 by a Francesco Totti-inspired Roma at the San Siro on Sunday.

AC Milan, who finished runners-up to Juventus last season but stuttered against Sampdoria last week, got their scudetto campaign back on track Saturday when Giampaolo Pazzini struck a hat-trick in a 3-1 win away at Bologna.

Robin van Persie hit a dramatic hat-trick as Manchester United fought back to win 3-2 at Southampton in Sir Alex Ferguson's 1,000th league game in charge, while Arsenal piled on the misery for struggling Liverpool with a 2-0 victory at Anfield on Sunday.

Van Persie looked like ruining Ferguson's landmark celebrations when he missed a penalty with United trailing 2-1 midway through the second half at St. Mary's.

Maria Sharapova is back in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the first time since winning the title in 2006.

Shrieking loudly during points, screaming and pumping her fist after winning them, Sharapova grabbed control after a 75-minute rain delay to beat 19th-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday night.

Barcelona maintained their winning start to the season with a fine strike from Adriano Correia giving them a 1-0 victory over Valencia in La Liga action on Sunday.

The Catalan side may have lost the domestic Super Cup to Real Madrid in midweek but they have now picked up maximum points from their first three league games that keeps them top of the table.

Manchester City splashed out over £35 million on Inter Milan star Maicon, Benfica midfielder Javi Garcia, Swansea winger Scott Sinclair and Fiorentina defender Matija Nastasic as the Premier League champions embarked on a transfer deadline day spending spree.

City boss Roberto Mancini has endured a frustrating time in the transfer market since the end of last season, but there was a late flurry of activity at Eastlands before Friday's 2200GMT deadline.

European champions Chelsea crashed to a 4-1 Super Cup defeat to Atletico Madrid here on Friday, with the Spanish side's Colombian hotshot Radamel Falcao the star of the show at the Stade Louis II stadium.

Falcao's first half hat-trick had Chelsea, featuring Atletico old boy Fernando Torres, reeling and Miranda's second half offering compounded the misery for Roberto di Matteo's men.

Chinese star Li Na will take a break from tennis otherwise the sport will "kill" her after she was sent crashing out of the U.S. Open on Friday by teenage British giant-killer Laura Robson.

Ninth seed Li was beaten in the third round 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 by 18-year-old Robson, the world number 89, who had also defeated triple U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters in the previous round.

U.S. swimmer Bradley Snyder on Friday won gold in the men's S11 100m freestyle at the London Paralympics -- a year after losing his sight when an improvised explosive device exploded in his face in Afghanistan.

The 28-year-old former U.S. Navy lieutenant won the race in 57.43secs, with clear water between him and second-placed finisher Yang Bozun of China and Hendri Herbst Hendri of South Africa in third.