Just when you think that other sports are in a bad way, you can almost always count on something amusing happening in the never-dull world of tennis. The latest is that Kim Clijsters, the #2 ranked woman in the world, will skip the 2004 Olympics.
Why, you ask? Because she can't wear Fila clothes. Clijsters' contract with Fila stipulates that she can only wear their clothes on the court, but the Belgian Olympic Committee requires that Belgian athletes wear apparel from their sponsor, Adidas.
Right now, you can read the charmingly-poor translation of Clijsters' web posting about this. She makes a fair point -- Fila has been supporting her career for years, and she feels indebted to them.
But someone at Fila needs to take her aside and say that while they appreciate the loyalty, it's more important for Fila to have her at the Olympics, where she would be a favorite for a medal.
One assumes that cooler heads will prevail at some point, like they did when this same issue raised its head with the 1992 "Dream Team" in Barcelona. Maybe someone can get Clijsters a Belgian flag to cover the Adidas logo.