Over the years, there have been several intriguing stories related to
doping. The Kenteris and Thanou case was perhaps the most absurd. It
showed how far athletes could go to avoid being caught doping,
especially in high stakes.
Kenteris and Thanou were tipped to provide hosts Greece with some golden moments in their home games in 2004.
Kenteris, the Sydney Olympics 200m gold medallist, was the leading candidate to light the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony at the Athens Olympics. In his hometown, he had a street, a ship and a stadium named after him. His training partner Thanou was silver medallist in Sydney. Both were under pressure to succeed.
While the world waited for them to light up the Games, they missed their mandatory doping test and ended up in a hospital under mysterious circumstances. The duo claimed they were involved in a motorcycle accident. A week later, they withdrew from the Games.
The Greek Olympic Committee suspended the athletes with immediate effect and the International Olympic Committee set up a panel to inquire the case. In May 2011, after four years of deferral, a court found the two sprinters guilty of perjury.
They received suspended jail sentences for staging the accident in order to avoid dope test. Their coach, two witnesses to the supposed crash, and several doctors who treated the athletes in hospital at the time were also given shorter sentences for their part in the cover-up.
Kenteris and Thanou, though, have never admitted to purposely evading the Olympic drug test or going out of their way to avoid the two other tests they had missed earlier in that Olympic year.
They have since retired, completely disappearing from the public eye of the country that once loved them.
Kenteris and Thanou were tipped to provide hosts Greece with some golden moments in their home games in 2004.
Kenteris, the Sydney Olympics 200m gold medallist, was the leading candidate to light the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony at the Athens Olympics. In his hometown, he had a street, a ship and a stadium named after him. His training partner Thanou was silver medallist in Sydney. Both were under pressure to succeed.
While the world waited for them to light up the Games, they missed their mandatory doping test and ended up in a hospital under mysterious circumstances. The duo claimed they were involved in a motorcycle accident. A week later, they withdrew from the Games.
The Greek Olympic Committee suspended the athletes with immediate effect and the International Olympic Committee set up a panel to inquire the case. In May 2011, after four years of deferral, a court found the two sprinters guilty of perjury.
They received suspended jail sentences for staging the accident in order to avoid dope test. Their coach, two witnesses to the supposed crash, and several doctors who treated the athletes in hospital at the time were also given shorter sentences for their part in the cover-up.
Kenteris and Thanou, though, have never admitted to purposely evading the Olympic drug test or going out of their way to avoid the two other tests they had missed earlier in that Olympic year.
They have since retired, completely disappearing from the public eye of the country that once loved them.
No comments:
Post a Comment