Olympics
Greek sprinters fail to appear for Olympic Committee doping test

The Associated Press

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Kostas Kenteris, the defending Olympic 200-meter champion, and Katerina Thanou, the 100-meter silver medalist in Sydney, were not seriously hurt, police said. However, they were expected to stay in the hospital for two more days.

The accident and accusations involving two of the nation's biggest sports names stunned Greeks on the day of the ceremony and left organizers red-faced.

"What is important is that we get to the bottom of this," deputy sports minister Giorgos Orphanos said.

The torchbearer who lights the cauldron at the games traditionally remains a mystery until the last minute, but many expected Kenteris would have the honor.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said the IOC's medical director, Patrick Schamasch, went to the hospital where the sprinters were sent. He gave them a written summons to attend the disciplinary hearing.

But when the session began, Greek officials asked the IOC for a postponement and the hearing was rescheduled for Monday.

The sprinters' coach, Christos Tsekos, said a decision on whether they would be well enough to compete will be made in the next few days.

A statement from KAT hospital said Kenteris had "cranial trauma," whiplash and open wounds on his lower leg. Thanou sustained abdominal bruises, injuries to her right hip and a muscular injury to her right upper leg.

Kenteris, Greece's best hope for a gold medal in track, initially could not be found for a doping test in the athletes' village Thursday. Thanou also could not be located for a time.

They returned to Greece after a training session in Chicago and moved into the Olympic Village when the IOC tried to find them. Last year, Kenteris and Thanou missed an out-of-competition drug test.
 
Neither has tested positive for drugs.

Arne Ljungqvist, the IOC medical commission chairman, said the drug testers had recently tried to find the athletes in Chicago but couldn't. Once they were found in Athens, they were told to submit samples but didn't, said Ljungqvist, also the anti-doping chief of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The IOC's Anti-Doping Rules for these games say doping violations include "refusing, or failing without compelling justification, to submit to sample collection after notification." Such a violation may lead to ineligibility.

Health Minister Nikitas Kaklamanis visited the athletes at the hospital but refused to comment.

"There was no intention from the Hellenic Olympic Committee to hide anything," Greek Olympic team leader Yiannis Papadoyiannakis told state-run NET television. "If there has been some kind of misunderstanding, that's something different. Many athletes leave the Olympic village for many reasons, to enjoy themselves."

Tsekos said the sprinters had their cell phones turned off and didn't know they were being sought.

The head of the Greek track team, Yiannis Stamatopoulos, said the athletes had left the village to collect personal belongings from home. He said they had asked for an extension to take the drug tests.

News of the crash dominated headlines and overshadowed the Olympic flame relay as it headed for the stadium. "A Shadow is Cast Over the Big Celebration," one Athens daily newspaper proclaimed. The front-page headline on another demanded: "Tell Us the Truth."