Add another chapter to Chellsie Memmel's already dramatic comeback story.

A case of whiplash forced Memmel to miss three events yesterday, the first of a two-day Olympic selection camp at New Waverly, Texas. But she reminded everyone what a tough gymnast she is, returning for the balance beam and doing a near-perfect routine that had national team coordinator Martha Karolyi — and everyone else in the gym — clapping.

"It was a shock and, whenever it's a shock, you have to stop," said Andy Memmel, Chellsie's coach and father. "If she would have done something stupid today, then we couldn't have gone on. ... We can afford bumps. We can't afford holes."

Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin earned trips to the Beijing Games with their 1-2 finish at last month's Olympic trials. That leaves four spots still up for grabs, though, and 10 women are vying for them. Well, nine now. Shayla Worley, a member of last year's gold medal squad at the world championships, broke her right fibula just below the knee during warm-ups yesterday and is essentially done.

Memmel and Alicia Sacramone are thought to be locks for two of the four remaining spots — but they must be healthy when they get there.

BASKETBALL

QUALIFIER SEMIFINALS SET

Dirk Nowitzki overcame an early shooting slump to score a game-high 20 points and lead Germany past Brazil, 78-65, and into the semifinals of the Olympic basketball qualifier yesterday at Athens, Greece.

Greece, Puerto Rico and Croatia also advanced to today's semis. Germany will face Croatia and Greece will play Puerto Rico.

The semifinals winners will qualify for the 12-team Olympic tournament, while the losers will play tomorrow for the final berth.

In other games yesterday, Greece beat New Zealand, 75-48, Croatia cruised past Canada, 83-62, and Puerto Rico pull away from Slovenia, 81-70.

TRACK AND FIELD

DOUBLE AMPUTEE LEFT OFF

In the end, it was a split second and not a court's decision that kept double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius from competing in the Beijing Olympics.

Pistorius was left off South Africa's 1,600-meter relay team yesterday, ending his hopes of participating in the Summer Games. He couldn't hit the 400-meter qualifying time of 45.55 seconds, despite running a personal best 46.25 on Wednesday on his prosthetic blades at a meet in Lucerne, Switzerland.

The 21-year-old Pistorius has said the court fight kept him from focusing on training, and acknowledged it might be more realistic to aim for the 2012 London Olympics.

Pistorius plans to run at the Sept. 6 to 17 Paralympic Games in Beijing. He holds the Paralympic world record of 46.56 in the 400.

Efforts to reach Pistorius were not immediately successful.

CHAMBERS STILL BANNED

British sprinter Dwain Chambers failed yesterday in his bid to overturn a lifetime Olympic ban because of doping, and will not be able to compete at the Beijing Games.

London's High Court refused to grant an injunction against the British Olympic Association's bylaw which bans doping violators for life from the games. Chambers' legal team said it would not appeal the decision.

"The judge has made his decision," Chambers said.

The sprinter did not comment on possible retirement plans. His attorney suggested in court Thursday that Chambers likely would retire if he lost the case.

Chambers, who won the 100-meter race at last Saturday's British Olympic trials in 10 seconds, served a two-year ban after testing positive for the steroid THG in August 2003.

Despite ruling against Chambers, Judge Colin Mackay criticized the BOA bylaw.

"People both inside and outside sport would see this bylaw as unlawful," Mackay said.