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United Under the Olympic Flag...Not.
File this one under international racism and prejudice. It's amazing to me that an athlete would give up his chance for medalling at the Olympics for something as silly as this. It just goes to show you have far we really have to go. *sigh*
| quote: | Olympics Hit by Crisis Over Iran-Israel Contest
By Douglas Hamilton
ATHENS (Reuters) - Iran's world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against an Israeli Sunday, triggering a fresh crisis at the Olympic Games where race, creed or color are not allowed to interfere with sport.
The International Judo Federation (IJF) failed to agree how to deal with the politically explosive issue at an emergency meeting and said it would hold further talks Monday.
The burning issue was whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team.
"There has been no decision and we are considering this situation very carefully," said IJF spokesman Michel Brousse.
"This has not been brought to us as an issue and until it is, we would not have any comment," said a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which pledges to uphold the ideal of sport transcending national barriers.
The official reason for Miresmaeili's non-appearance was failure to make the weight but judo chiefs were questioning how such a seasoned athlete, who carried Iran's flag at Friday's opening ceremony, would have made such a basic error.
REAL REASON
A statement by the Iranian National Olympic Committee in Tehran suggested the real reason had nothing to do with kilos.
"This is a general policy of our country to refrain from competing against athletes of the Zionist regime and Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy," it said.
Iran has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist since Islamic fundamentalists toppled the Shah in 1979.
Right after the draw was made last Thursday there were reports that Miresmaeili, 66 kg world champion in 2001 and 2003, might pull out because his opponent was an Israeli, Ehud Vaks.
The Games were rocked last Thursday when Greece's top two athletes, Olympic 200 meters champion Costas Kenteris and 100 meters silver medallist Katerina Thanou, missed a dope test.
They were dropped from the host nation's team Saturday pending an IOC disciplinary hearing Monday.
On the second day of full competition at the Olympics, Athens was blasted by a hot, hair-dryer wind that threatened to spook the horses at the equestrian events and may have blown some arrows off course at the archery.
The rowing regatta had to be stopped, prompting some told-you-so comments from critics who said it was in the wrong place to begin with.
GUSTING WINDS
But the gusting winds could not stop Russia's Alexei Alipov winning gold in the men's trap shooting with a near-flawless performance on a range carved into a mountain top.
The 29-year-old from Moscow scored 149 out of a possible 150, including a perfect 25 in the final round.
"The weather conditions were having a great effect on everyone," said Alipov. "We managed to find conditions similar to this in Cyprus and trained there for quite some time before the Olympics. That helped."
Swimming again grabbed most attention as Australia's Ian Thorpe won round one of a duel with American Michael Phelps, qualifying fastest for the 200 meters freestyle.
Thorpe showed no signs of fatigue from his titanic struggle with Grant Hackett in Saturday's 400 freestyle final victory as he cruised through his heat in one minute 47.22 seconds.
The archery contest returned the Olympics to their birthplace in Athens's Panathinaiko Stadium, 108 years after the first Games were held at the classical marble amphitheater.
This is the setting for the finish line in the marathon on the closing day, when the Games can expect to see scenes of jubilation much like in 1896, when 100,000 Greeks greeted their marathon-winning hero Spiridon Louis.
DISAPPOINTING ATTENDANCE
Attendance at the first Summer Olympics since the September 11 attacks on the United States three years ago has disappointed in the first two days, but organizers hope it will soon pick up.
Athens has spent 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) on security, four times more than Sydney in 2000, and security personnel outnumber athletes seven to one.
So organizers were swift to play down a British newspaper's charge that security at the Games was a "terrorist's dream."
Sunday Mirror tabloid reporter Bob Graham said a job as a driver allowed him to wander round the main stadium close to world leaders during Friday's opening ceremony.
Organizers said the undetected packages he planted round the stadium did not reveal any security flaws.
Contrary to his story, a background check was conducted on Graham before he got the job and the "suspicious packages" were not detected precisely because they were harmless, the organizers said.
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