BRIEFLY : FRENCH SAILOR SAVED IN WORLD YACHT RACE.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

A star French sailor was rescued unharmed in the South Pacific off the coast of Chile on Tuesday by a heroic rival in the solo around-the-world race.

The Chilean navy said Isabelle Autissier was rescued by yachtsman Giovanni Soldini of Italy, 24 hours after sending a distress signal.

Autissier was the overall leader of the 27,000-mile Around Alone race when her 60-foot PRB overturned in fierce weather Monday. The Chilean navy said the 42-year-old Frenchwoman's boat was ``completely lost.''

OLYMPICS: Less than a quarter of Olympic bidders responded to the IOC's request for information on rule-breaking behavior by its members, the committee said. Replies were received from 11 of the 54 cities that bid for the games from 1996 onward. Two other national Olympic committees were given more time to file their reports, which will be used in the IOC's bribery investigation.

TENNIS: Top seed Alex Corretja, beset by a slew of errors, lost to Marat Safin 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the $850,000 ABN AMRO indoor tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

FOOTBALL: Five freshly signed University of Washington players who lost their eligibility because of an NCAA rules violation have been reinstated by the NCAA, the school announced.

Samuel Bartholomew, who captained the 1939 Tennessee football team that was undefeated and unscored upon during the regular season, died of pneumonia Sunday in Kingsport, Tenn. He was 81.

BASKETBALL: Frank Dobbs will resign as Brown University's men's coach at the end of this season.

HOCKEY: The American Hockey League agreed to test a ``four-on-four'' overtime period beginning Friday night for the NHL, which is interested in the format.

HORSE RACING: Julie Krone rode May B A Walk to her 3,500th career victory at New Orleans' Fair Grounds, making her the first female jockey to reach that milestone.