Federation approves Iraqi rowers

Two Iraqi rowers will be allowed to take part in the Beijing Olympics, the International Rowing Federation said Wednesday from Lausanne, Switzerland.

“We called the IOC and asked if we could have the rowers back and the answer just came through,” the federation’s executive director Matt Smith said. “We’re very happy.”

Haidar Nozad and Hamzah Hussein Jebur were allowed back in the men’s double sculls because their places had not been given to competitors from other countries, Smith said.

German fans pull for Nowitzki

Fans of Dirk Nowitzki have mounted an internet campaign they hope will lead to his selection as Germany’s flag bearer at the Beijing Olympics.

Germany’s basketball team, led by the 30-year-old Nowitzki, qualified for the games 10 days ago. That makes him eligible to be flag bearer. Signatures reached 3,800 on a Web site.

“That would be super,” the Dallas Mavericks star said. “I would be honored.”

Nowitzki will be aided in the middle by Los Angeles Clippers center Chris Kaman, whose grandparents are German.

Germany is in Group B with the United States, China, Angola, Greece and Spain.

Evans attends to knee

Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans withdrew from the Olympic Games road time trial today because of a knee injury.

Evans told reporters in Sydney, Australia, that he will undergo treatment this week before deciding whether he will travel to Beijing to contest the road race.

He will be replaced in the time trial by three-time world champion Michael Rogers.

Triple jumper loses appeal

Former world triple jump champion Charles Friedek won’t be competing at the Beijing Olympics after losing a court appeal.

A German court in Frankfurt upheld the national Olympic committee’s decision that Friedek, who won the gold medal at the 1999 world championships, didn’t fulfill the required qualifications to be nominated.