The International Olympic Committee ruled today that Iraq will not be able to participate in the Summer Olympics after Iraq's government replaced elected Olympic Committee members with officials not recognized by the IOC. That means the two Iraqi rowers, two Iraqi sprinters, one Iraqi archer, one Iraqi weightlifter and one Iraqi judo competitor who had qualified for the Summer Games cannot attend. "The IOC very sadly has now to acknowledge that it is likely there will be no Iraqi presence at the Beijing Olympic Games, despite our best efforts," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "Clearly, we'd very much like to have seen Iraq's athletes in Beijing. We are very disappointed that the athletes have been so ill-served by their own government's actions." The Getty Images photo shows an Iraqi Olympic swimming coach giving instructions to team members from a row boat in the Tigris river.
