Paralysed forever GERMAN gymnast Ronny Ziesmer is likely to remain paralysed after breaking his neck in a fall during practice. "We assume that the paralysis will remain as it is," said chief doctor Stephan Becker of the trauma hospital in Berlin. Ziesmer, who was set to be an Olympics medal contender, was injured during an exercise, breaking a neck vertebra and damaging his spinal cord. His arms and legs have been paralysed since the accident. Johannes Hablik, another German gymnast, has been paralysed since 2002 after a similar accident. German Gymnastics Federation President Rainer Brechtken said, "we have relatively fewer injuries compared to other sports, but when we have them they are more serious." Meanwhile, Polish gymnast Joanna Skowronska has been diagnosed with a broken cervical vertebra in her neck following a fall while training. Olympic gymnastics officials said the 22-year- old, who was practising on the asymmetric bars, was in a stable condition in an Athens hospital. She will have to wear a supporting brace for the next eight weeks. Argentina's Celeste Carnevale, the first reserve gymnast, is expected to take Skowronska's place. Despite the odds IRAQ has already booked its place in the Olympic men's football quarter-finals with a 2- 0 victory over Costa Rica in an unlikely run in the competition. Hawar Mulla Mohamed and substitute Mahdi Karim scored the goals which sparked wild scenes among Iraqi fans, some of whom ran onto the field in celebration of a side who were unable to play any of their qualifying games on home turf because of the war and subsequent conflict. "We're delighted by the victories because we know what it means to our people," Iraq coach Adnan Hamad said afterwards through an interpreter. Hawar Mulla Mohamed's opener came after 67 minutes and Mahdi Karim headed the second five minutes later. The win gave Iraq a maximum six points from its first two games and automatic qualification to the second round. The Iraqis had opened their football competition with a stunning 4-2 victory against Portugal in Group D at the Olympic football tournament. "Everybody expected Costa Rica to win, not us," said Mohamed. "But we showed everyone we are a good team and that we can play good football and pulled off a surprise." Not with Israel IRAN'S Arash Miresmaeili has been eliminated after failing to make the correct weight at the Athens Olympics. But there is confusion over the affair, following the judo star's reported threat to walk out in protest when he was drawn against an Israeli opponent. Iran has a strict policy of sanctions against Israel and forbids any contact with Israeli citizens. Iran's President Mohamed Khatami has said Miresmaeili's act will be recorded among the nation's glories. The International Judo Federation (IJF) said: "We're very surprised an elite player could not make his weight." It added: "At the moment we have someone who is representing his country and did not make the weight. We have to know more about it." The IJF's executive committee met to discuss the case but a spokesman said that no decision had been reached. Miresmaeili, the world champion in the under-66kg division who carried Iran's flag at Friday's opening ceremony, had been drawn to face Israeli's Ehud Vaks in the first round. After the draw, he was quoted in Iran as saying that he had refused to face his Israeli rival in sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people. Greatness surfaces IAN THORPE won one of the most anticipated swimming races in history when he pipped Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200m freestyle. On Monday, the Australian beat the defending champion in a field which included the four fastest men in history. He clocked an Olympic record of one minute 44.71 secs to edge the Dutchman with American Michael Phelps in third. Thorpe's victory shattered Phelps' hopes of seven Olympic golds in Athens that would have tied him with Mark Spitz. Van den Hoogenband took the early lead but was hunted down by Thorpe with just over 50m to go and had to settle for silver in 1:45.23. Phelps was always trailing the leading pair and was consigned to bronze with a time of 1:45.32, a new American record. "It was tough but I was able to produce a pretty good performance and I'm ecstatic about the result," said Thorpe, whose time was just 0.65 seconds outside his own world record. "I knew Pieter would go out quick and I just wanted to stay with him." The Dutchman sportingly embraced Thorpe after the race saying: "We've got one each now." Thorpe won his first world title as a 15-year- old and was one of the stars of the Sydney Olympics, winning three gold and two silver medals as a 17-year-old. Cooke Street THE FATHER of Olympic gold medal hopeful Nicole Cooke has been questioned by police after allegedly painting her name on an Athens street. Greek officials said Anthony Cooke used white paint to write his daughter's name on the Olympic cycling road race course. He was taken for questioning by police before he was later released. Cooke was following a cycling tradition where supporters paint their favourites' names on the course. Nicole Cooke is among the favourites to win the Olympic road race title, which will be contested on a course around the streets of Athens. Greek police questioned Cooke after spotting him allegedly daubing his daughter's name on Erodotuou Street, in central Athens, on Friday night. Cooke, who is also his daughter's coach, was taken to a local police station along with his friend, Richard Owen. They were questioned and had their passports checked before being released. Neither man was arrested. A Ministry of Public Order spokeswoman said Cooke had not finished writing his daughter's name before he was taken to the police station. Philip Pope, of the British Olympic Association, commented, "we are responsible for looking after the athletes. This is a matter for the Cooke family." Cooke goes into the Athens road race as the reigning World Cup champion and winner of 2004's Giro d'Italia. The price of injury A LAST-MINUTE freak accident ruined swimmer Sarah Price's Olympic 100ms backstroke chances. The 25-year-old cut her leg on an underwater camera during the warm-up for the semi-final and then finished last, ruling her out of the final. "I jumped into the pool onto a box which was hard to see. I'm glad I swam but I didn't train for four years for that to happen," said a tearful Price. British team manager Craig Hunter revealed an appeal had been made to the IOC over the Price incident, as well as an attempt to delay the semi-final. "We asked Fina to re-schedule the event and they asked each individual nation if they were happy to do that," he said. "Of course they weren't, as we wouldn't be because each athlete anticipates the time they are due to race. "Sarah lost 50 minutes of critical preparation time through no fault of her own. It should be the responsibility of the international federation rather than to pass it on to the countries. "We have appealed to the BOA and will be appealing to the IOC. We were told that cameras would not encroach." London calling LONDON has presented its bid for the 2012 Olympics at a press conference with four rival cities in Athens. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Mayor Ken Livingstone and Olympians Lord Seb Coe and Sir Steve Redgrave put the city's case for the Games to 500 media people. Tony Blair also spoke in a pre-recorded video, saying: "We've got the skill, we've got the commitment, but above all, we've got the passion." Rivals Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow also presented their visions. London was the only city whose bid included its country's political leader. The prime minister spoke of the wider potential of the Games: "I believe that we can build through hosting the Games, a lasting legacy, not just for our country, for sport in our country, for the opportunities for young people in sport in our country, but also for the Olympic movement." Jowell, the cabinet minister responsible for the bid, said a successful bid would counteract the "epidemic of obesity" and the high percentage of young people giving up sport when they leave school. Paris entitled its bid "L' Amour Des Jeux", (The Love of Sport) while Madrid offered "Olympic Passion". New York's bid, NYC2012, claimed the city was an "Olympic Village everyday" with a diverse "global family", while Moscow claimed it could host the Olympics "tomorrow" because it had sports facilities already in place. The 2008 Olympics will be hosted by Beijing. Hopes fly away TIM HENMAN's hopes of Olympic glory were blown away in the Athens wind as he lost in the first round to Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic. In blustery conditions, fourth seed Henman looked lacklustre while Novak, ranked 27, produced a consistently high level of play to win 6-3 6-3. British No 1 Henman broke in the very first game but was himself broken three times in the first set. Novak then broke in the third and ninth games of the second set for victory. Henman, a silver medallist in the doubles in the 1996 Olympics, began brightly with a break but could not find any rhythm and allowed Novak to immediately break back. The Czech player then broke again and looked to be in control of the first set, lashing winners around the court. But serving with the new balls, his level suddenly dropped and Henman managed to break back only to then hand his own serve on a plate to his opponent.
