First, an Iranian swimmer pulled out of a race in the Water Cube just minutes before he was due to compete in a heat involving an Israeli competitor.

 

Then, Georgia's 35-strong Beijing Olympic team admitted they may pull out of the Games because of the Russian offensive in their country, according to their National Olympic Committee.

 

Mohammad Alirezaei's lane one was empty when the field left the starting blocks of the 100 metres breaststroke while Israel's Tom Beeri, starting in lane seven, finished fourth.

 

Iranian officials claimed that Alirazaei's absence was due to a late stomach bug but insiders believed that the Government had stepped in to stop him competing.

 

During the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Iran's judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili, one of the country's prominent gold medal hopes, refused to compete against Ehud Vaks of Israel in the first round.

 

Miresmaeili, twice a winner of the flyweight world title, still received a $5,000 (£2,6010) award the Iranian National Olympic Committee had promised to medal winners and he was hailed by former President Mohammad Khatami for his stance.

 

Iran has refused to compete against Israel since 1979.

 

Beeri said: "'I believe he [Alirazaei]  trains a lot in Croatia and I was told before the meet by some Croatians that he would not be swimming against me.

 

"I do not care about that.

 

"I do not think politics should interfere in sport.

 

"I am an athlete and just want to swim my best.

 

"The 100m is not my best, but I swam a personal best and a national record, so I am happy."

 

Georgia, meanwhile, called for a ceasefire after Russian bombers widened an offensive to force back Georgian troops seeking control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

 

Russia put the death toll at 2,000 and 30,000 refugees from South Ossetia had fled to Russia over the past 36 hours.

 

Moscow said two of its warplanes had been shot down, 13 of its soldiers killed and 70 wounded.

 

The Georgian Olympic team urged the international community to help end the violence.

 

Its team released a statement, which said: "This deliberate strategy of aggression has grown into a full-scale military intervention involving all regions of Georgia.

 

"Georgia calls upon the international community to make it clear [to Russia] that intrusion into and bombing of the territory of a sovereign state is unacceptable in the 21st century and that such acts cannot and will not be tolerated."

 

Officials said that a final decision on whether the team should continue in Beijing will be taken by Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili.

 

Giorgi Tchanishvili, a spokesman for the team, said: "We don't know what will happen but we're talking about it now.

 

"It will be the decision of the president of the country."