The image most expected of David Beckham and Landon Donovan holding the championship of Major League Soccer for the league's marquee franchise will wait.

Those upstarts from Real Salt Lake outlasted the stars from Los Angeles.

Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks and the scrappy underdogs from RSL beat the star-studded Galaxy, 5-4, on penalties last night in Seattle for its first MLS title.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves during penalties, and Donovan — the league MVP — missed badly over the crossbar giving RSL a chance in the extra rounds. After Rimando smothered Edson Buddle's shot, Russell beat backup Los Angeles keeper Josh Saunders into the lower left corner to set off a wild celebration.

"It's nice to say we're the best team in the league," RSL coach Jason Kreis said. "... My honest opinion is we deserved to win that game."

Robbie Findley scored in the 64th minute to pull RSL even at 1 after Mike Magee gave Los Angeles the lead in the 41st minute off a perfect cross by Donovan.

It was the second straight shootout victory for Salt Lake, which beat Chicago, 5-4, on penalties last week in the Eastern Conference championship.

OBITUARY

WOMEN'S JUDO PIONEER DIES

Rena "Rusty" Kanokogi, known as the "Mother of Judo" partly for her role in bringing women's judo to the Olympic Games, has died. She was 74.

Her daughter, Jean Kanokogi, said she died Saturday at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., following a three-year battle with leukemia.

Rusty Kanokogi competed in judo against men in the 1950s and helped create the first Women's World Judo Championships, which were held in 1980 in New York City.

USA Judo says Kanokogi coached the U.S. women's judo team at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 — the year the sport was added to the games. She worked as a judo commentator for NBC during the network's coverage of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

SWIMMING

LOCHTE, SONI WIN ATHLETES OF YEAR

World champions Ryan Lochte and Rebecca Soni won male and female athlete of the year awards at the Golden Goggles honoring the year's top American swimming performances.

Michael Phelps won for male race of the year last night and shared a relay award after earning a leading six nominations.

Lochte ended Phelps' two-year ownership of the athlete of the year award.

TRACK AND FIELD

BOLT, RICHARDSEARN TOP AWARDS

Sprinter Usain Bolt of Jamaica and 400-meter runner Sanya Richards of the United States have won their second IAAF World Athlete of the Year awards.

Bolt retained the honor yesterday by winning the 100 and 200 meters finals in record times at the World Championships in Berlin, matching his 100 and 200 double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He won a third gold in the 400-meter relay.

Richards, the 2006 winner, got her first major individual gold medal at the worlds in August.

She also won at all six Golden League meetings in Europe to claim a share of the $1 million jackpot for athletes who swept their event.

TENNIS

FEDERER RALLIES TO BEAT VERDASCO

Roger Federer overcame an erratic forehand and Fernando Verdasco yesterday, rallying to beat the Spanish opponent, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

In the early Group A match, Andy Murray overcame a second-set slump to beat Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.