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Thanou on Greece’s official team list

ATHENS: Doping-tainted sprinter Katerina Thanou has been included on Greece’s official team list for the Beijing Olympics. The 33-year-old Thanou had made Greece’s provisional team list last week after finishing the 100 metres in 11.39 seconds at a Greek track meet.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) said on Tuesday that Thanou was on the official list of participants.

Thanou won the silver medal in the 100m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but later served a two-year ban after missing a doping test before the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Her lawyer Nikos Kollias said he expected the International Olympic Committee to issue Thanou with accreditation.

“There are no legal grounds for preventing her from taking part in the Olympics,” Kollias told the Associated Press. “(Thanou) wants to take part ... I see no reason why this should not happen.”

In 2004, an IOC disciplinary commission ruled that it must reconvene before Thanou can take part at any games.

“Any participation of Thanou ... at any further edition of the Olympic Games shall be subject to a new procedure in front of the IOC,” the committee wrote at the time.

No word from IOC

The IOC had no comment on Tuesday on Thanou’s possible participation, pending Wednesday’s deadline for team submissions. The organisation could discuss the issue at an executive board meeting from August 2-3 in Beijing. The 2004 doping scandal involving Thanou and Greek sprinter Costas Kenteris was a major embarrassment for the organisers of the Athens Games.

The two missed a doping test on the eve of the Games, later claiming they were involved in a motorcycle accident. They are still facing criminal charges.

Greece has since been troubled by a string of doping cases.

Last month, 11 Greek weightlifters were suspended for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid. Greece will send only four lifters to Beijing.

A Greek boxer was removed from the Olympic team list Tuesday after his failed drug test was announced last week, HOC said. — AP

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