(ATR) Almost eight years after the crimes were committed, Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are judged guilty of lying about a motorcycle accident on the eve of the Athens Olympics.
The two sprinters say a motorcycle accident prevented them from reaching the Olympic Village in time for drug tests two days before opening ceremony. They holed-up in an Athens hospital for five days, claiming injuries from the accident.
A long-delayed trial ended Tuesday in Athens with the judge declaring "that this accident never occurred". Kenteris and Thanou could be sentenced to four years in jail. Their coach Christos Tzekos, also found guilty, could face six years imprisonment. Members of the staff at the hospital where the sprinters hid were also implicated in the cover-up. Appeals are likely.
Kenteris, 200m gold medalist in Sydney and Thanou, 100m silver medalist, resigned from the Greek team in Athens to avoid being stripped of their credentials by the IOC. An IOC Disciplinary Commission had learned the two athletes had managed to avoid other drug tests in the lead-up to the Olympics.
Kenteris,whohad been selected to light the caldron at the Athens opening ceremony, obviously lost that honor.
Both runners were eventually suspended by the IAAF. Thanou qualified for the Beijing Olympics, but the IOC refused to allow her to participate based on what happened in Athens.
And when Thanou became eligible to receive the 100m gold medal from Sydney after Marion Jones was disqualified for doping, the IOC chose to leave the gold medal position open.
Written by Ed Hula.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
