The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Greek sprinters withdraw

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 19, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Greek sprinters withdraw

ATHENS, AUG. 18. Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou withdrew on Wednesday from the Athens Games, nearly a week after they missed a drug test and were later hospitalised following a suspicious motorcycle crash.

``I'm withdrawing from the Olympics,'' Kenteris said after meeting with the International Olympic Committee's disciplinary commission.

He also said he cut ties with his coach, Christos Tsekos, who had been suspended by the Greek Olympic Committee, along with the two runners.

His announcement had no bearing on the hearing. The IOC's executive board met to discuss whether the two were guilty of doping violations and should be expelled. A decision was expected later on Wednesday.

Kenteris, the reigning 200-metre Olympic champion, is the country's most celebrated athlete and was Greece's best hope for gold in track at the Athens Games. He was considered a leading candidate to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, but a Greek windsurfing champion got the honour instead.

The scandal overshadowed the Games' opening ceremony and shamed a nation in one of its most eagerly awaited moments.

``I declared all the facts of my case which state that I am innocent,'' Kenteris said. ``I was never informed that I had to attend a doping test at the Olympic Village.''

Thanou was the 100-metre silver medallist in Sydney four years ago.

``The people who are accusing me are the ones who stood by me for photos after my victories; others don't even know me,'' she said.

``It's a very hard thing for an athlete to withdraw from the Olympic Games, especially when they're in their homeland.''

Both sprinters spent about an hour behind closed doors and emerged to a mob of reporters and television cameras.

The IOC commission has been looking into why the two athletes missed a drug test in the Olympic village last Thursday.

A few hours later, they were taken to a hospital with cuts and bruises after they said their motorcycle skidded on a road. The accident is still being investigated.

The commission twice postponed hearings while the sprinters were in the hospital, giving them a chance to defend themselves in person. Neither sprinter showed any signs of injury from the crash.

The Greek Olympic Committee suspended the athletes and Tsekos on Saturday, pending a final decision by the IOC.

Afterward, the coach blamed the media for the athletes' decision. — AP

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