Iran embraces the Olympic spirit...

...by pissing all over it: Iranian judoka refuses to face his first opponent, an Israeli.

Arash Miresmaeili carried the flag of his country proudly in the Olympic opening ceremony. He marched with the athletes, listened to the lyrical speeches about uniting the athletes of the world, heard the oaths, and understood the expectations of being a gold medal favourite.

And then he took the money and ran -- because really, he had no choice.

The statistics will say that Miresmaeili did not make his weight and therefore did not participate in the Olympic Games. The statistics lie.

The real story is about Middle Eastern politics and a conflict that never seems to end and all that should have little to do with either sport or these Games. But the real story is that Iranian authorities will pay Miresmaeili a significant sum of money -- hundreds of thousands of dollars, in fact -- for his apparent refusal to fight an Israeli opponent in judo yesterday at the Ano Liossia Olympic Hall.

To paraphrase an old risque joke, in theory this guy could kick my ass (and would have likely beat Ehud Vaks), but in practice he's a big loser.