Therese Alshammar (SWE), world 50m freestyle champion, is being treated for a trapped nerve in her neck and may have to withdraw from the Olympic Games.

The injury, which started with a creak in her neck on July 4, got progressively worse as Alshammar continued to train. The sprinter, who took two silver medals at Sydney 2000 over 50m and 100m freestyle and became the oldest world swimming champion among women last July in Shanghai days shy of her 34th birthday, is being treated in London.

Acupuncture and heat treatment are among measures being taken to get Alshammar to her blocks but a Swedish source said: "She won't swim the [4x100m free] relay. Maybe she will not race at all. We don't know. They are trying their best to get her there."