Post by Taxigirl on Aug 13, 2004 11:55:04 GMT
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/athletics/3560680.stm
Greek duo Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are facing expulsion from the Olympics after missing a drugs test.
The sprinters were unavailable for testing after being allowed to leave the Olympic Village by Greek officials to collect belongings from their homes.
Reigning 200m Olympic champion Kenteris and Thanou were then involved in a road accident and taken to hospital.
The pair had been ordered to appear before an IOC tribunal on Friday but have yet to leave their hospital wards.
Kenteris had been summoned to appear at 1030 BST, with Thanou half-an-hour later if deemed fit enough to travel.
KENTERIS/THANOU TIMELINE
Thursday:
1615: IOC ask Greek officials to locate athletes for tests. Athletes ask for time to return to village
2030: Hellenic Olympic Committee confirm duo fail to present themselves for tests
2215: Pair crash motorbike after visiting coach
2240: IOC set up disciplinary committee to investigate case
Friday:
0110: KAT hospital in Athens confirms athletes taken to hospital after crash
0530: IOC call athletes to 1030 hearing if fit enough
1030-1100: Duo fail to attend hearings; stay in hospital
All times BST
After an emergency meeting, IOC president Jacques Rogge ordered the launch of a three-man disciplinary committee, which includes former pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, to investigate the case.
Rogge said: "The IOC has launched a disciplinary hearing into these cases but I've no results yet.
"This is going to happen pretty soon. We will wait for the results and the executive board will then make a decision on that."
The news comes at the worst possible time for the host nation, just hours ahead of Friday's opening ceremony in Athens, where Kenteris was expected to light the Olympic Cauldron.
Kenteris was also a candidate to be Greece's flag-bearer in Friday's opening ceremony, but that honour will now go to weightlifter Pyrros Dimas.
The spokesman added that the motorcycle accident happened near Glyfada, a southern Athens suburb where the Greek team has its training headquarters.
Greek athletics federation chief, Vassilis Sevastis, said: "As you will understand their psychological state was not good. It seems that it's not something very serious. Tests are ongoing."
A statement from Athens' main hospital said Kenteris had suffered cranial trauma, whiplash and leg wounds, while Thanou suffered abdominal bruises, injuries to the right hip and a muscular injury to her right upper leg.
Kenteris and Thanou, who won silver in the women's 100m at Sydney, were due to attend the drug test at 1930 local time on Thursday.
Christos Tzekos, coach of the two athletes, said they were at their home at the time of the test.
Having missed it, they apparently asked to take a test later in the evening at the clinic in the Olympic Village rather than at the anti-doping laboratory in Athens.
If they fail to have a plausible excuse for failing to take the random test, they face the prospect of being expelled from the Games and serving an automatic two-year ban.
Nick Davies, media director of the International Association of Athletics, said: "What will have to be decided [by the IOC] is if it was a no show - that is a surprise test which the athlete is unaware of.
"But a refusal, when an athlete does know, is a doping offence."
Greek duo Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are facing expulsion from the Olympics after missing a drugs test.
The sprinters were unavailable for testing after being allowed to leave the Olympic Village by Greek officials to collect belongings from their homes.
Reigning 200m Olympic champion Kenteris and Thanou were then involved in a road accident and taken to hospital.
The pair had been ordered to appear before an IOC tribunal on Friday but have yet to leave their hospital wards.
Kenteris had been summoned to appear at 1030 BST, with Thanou half-an-hour later if deemed fit enough to travel.
KENTERIS/THANOU TIMELINE
Thursday:
1615: IOC ask Greek officials to locate athletes for tests. Athletes ask for time to return to village
2030: Hellenic Olympic Committee confirm duo fail to present themselves for tests
2215: Pair crash motorbike after visiting coach
2240: IOC set up disciplinary committee to investigate case
Friday:
0110: KAT hospital in Athens confirms athletes taken to hospital after crash
0530: IOC call athletes to 1030 hearing if fit enough
1030-1100: Duo fail to attend hearings; stay in hospital
All times BST
After an emergency meeting, IOC president Jacques Rogge ordered the launch of a three-man disciplinary committee, which includes former pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, to investigate the case.
Rogge said: "The IOC has launched a disciplinary hearing into these cases but I've no results yet.
"This is going to happen pretty soon. We will wait for the results and the executive board will then make a decision on that."
The news comes at the worst possible time for the host nation, just hours ahead of Friday's opening ceremony in Athens, where Kenteris was expected to light the Olympic Cauldron.
Kenteris was also a candidate to be Greece's flag-bearer in Friday's opening ceremony, but that honour will now go to weightlifter Pyrros Dimas.
The spokesman added that the motorcycle accident happened near Glyfada, a southern Athens suburb where the Greek team has its training headquarters.
Greek athletics federation chief, Vassilis Sevastis, said: "As you will understand their psychological state was not good. It seems that it's not something very serious. Tests are ongoing."
A statement from Athens' main hospital said Kenteris had suffered cranial trauma, whiplash and leg wounds, while Thanou suffered abdominal bruises, injuries to the right hip and a muscular injury to her right upper leg.
Kenteris and Thanou, who won silver in the women's 100m at Sydney, were due to attend the drug test at 1930 local time on Thursday.
Christos Tzekos, coach of the two athletes, said they were at their home at the time of the test.
Having missed it, they apparently asked to take a test later in the evening at the clinic in the Olympic Village rather than at the anti-doping laboratory in Athens.
If they fail to have a plausible excuse for failing to take the random test, they face the prospect of being expelled from the Games and serving an automatic two-year ban.
Nick Davies, media director of the International Association of Athletics, said: "What will have to be decided [by the IOC] is if it was a no show - that is a surprise test which the athlete is unaware of.
"But a refusal, when an athlete does know, is a doping offence."