Two-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Domenico Fioravanti will not compete in the upcoming Athens Games due to a heart problem. "This year is lost," the 26-year-old Italian said. "But I will continue to have checkups and if I were to get the OK, I would swim again." At the 2000 Sydney Games, Fioravanti won the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke titles. He also won a silver and a bronze medal at the 2001 world championships in Fukuoka, Japan. Fioravanti's training stopped in November after a routine medical test for probable Olympians by the Italian Olympic Committee revealed a heart weakness. If he does not return to competition, Italian swimming officials said that they have assured Fioravanti a position in the country's swimming development programme and role as a promoter for the sport. (AP)
Fioravanti to miss Athens Olympics
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