Having once held the longest winning streak in sports, Americans will try to start a new one when the America's Cup begins today with the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger sailing series in Valencia, Spain.

Sole U.S. team and challenger of record BMW Oracle Racing begins its campaign for the Auld Mug with match races against newcomers United Internet Germany Team and China Team, the bottom two in the 11-team challenger rankings.

The draw should provide Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's team with a comfortable start on its two-month quest for an America's Cup finals showdown with defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland.

After being undefeated for the first 132 years of America's Cup competition, the U.S. lost for the first time in 1983. It then won three straight competitions, but the last American victory was in 1992. Since then, two New Zealand boats and Alinghi have triumphed.

"We'd all like to win the Louis Vuitton Cup, but the thing we all want to really win is the America's Cup," Ellison said yesterday. "The Louis Vuitton Cup is just a stepping stone."

The challenger series cannot begin soon enough for Ellison's San Francisco-based syndicate, which invested a lot of time and money — estimates of at least $175 million make it the team with the largest budget — in the current challenge.

"In terms of ourselves, we'd love it for every race to be really boring and to be way ahead and all the way around the course, but it looks like the way it's setting up is for some real close, tough competition across the board," American navigator and two-time Cup winner Peter Isler said.

NFL

KANSAS CITY'S SHIELDS DECIDES TO CALL IT QUITS

Kansas City Chiefs guard Will Shields is retiring after making 12 Pro Bowl appearances in 14 seasons.

Shields, 35, never missed a game during his NFL career and failed to start only once: his first game as a rookie in 1993. His 224 games played and 223 starts are franchise records.

"The decision to hang up my cleats has not been an easy one to make for me but one I knew I would eventually have to make," Shields said on his Web site for the "Will to Succeed" Foundation. He founded the group with his wife, Senia, in 1993 to help abused and neglected women and children.

The 6-foot-3, 320-pound Shields had considered retiring last year because of arthritis in his knee and back. He leaves the Chiefs with three years and $4.8 million remaining on the four-year contract he signed before last season.

"The love for the game never decreased but, as the years passed, the physical requirements became harder to fulfill each and every day," Shields said. "If it was up to me I would play football forever but, as we all know, that is unrealistic."

RUNNING

KENYAN CHELANGA WINS ROTTERDAM MARATHON

Joshua Chelanga became the ninth straight Kenyan to win the Rotterdam Marathon, finishing the race in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 21 seconds yesterday.

Takayuki Matsumiya of Japan was second in 2:10:03.

Chelanga was one of 12 Kenyans in the race's 27th running. William Kipsang of Kenya, winner of the Amsterdam Marathon in 2003, was third in 2:11:03.

Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia, who won the 2006 Honolulu Marathon men's title, finished sixth in 2:12:39.

Hiromi Ominami of Japan won the women's race in 2:26:36.

Alevtina Biktamirova, who was second in the 2006 Honolulu Marathon women's race, finished third in 2:31:02.

IVANOVA, KINYANJUI WIN NAGANO MARATHON

Alevtina Ivanova of Russia, who has been the runner-up at the Honolulu Marathon and was third twice, was the top finisher in the women's field at the Nagano Marathon yesterday. Nephat Kinyanjui of Kenya won the men's race.

Ivanova finished in 2 hours, 27 minutes, 48 seconds, and Kinyanjui ran a 2:13:31.

Three-time Honolulu women's winner (2000, 2001, 2004) Lyubov Morgunova finished third in 2:29:34.

QATAR'S SHAMI CAPTURES PARIS MARATHON TITLE

Mubarak Shami of Qatar won the Paris Marathon yesterday in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 19 seconds.

Defending champion Gashaw Melese of Ethiopia was second in 2:09:53, 35 seconds ahead of Daniel Rono of Kenya.

Tafa Magarsa of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2:25:07.