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Greek Athletes Injured in Road Accident
Greek heroes Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have been injured in a road accident and taken to hospital.
The crash happened shortly after the athletes missed a drugs test, which could result in them being banned from the Olympics.
Kenteris, 200metres champion in Sydney and the man tipped to light the Olympic flame at tonight’s opening ceremony in Athens, together with Greek golden girl Thanou, missed a random test yesterday evening after leaving the Games Village and failing to return before the time limit to take the test expired.
And following an emergency meeting of the International Olympic Committee last night the pair are now facing a hearing today.
But Greek Olympic team spokesman George Gakis revealed the latest twist in the tale.
“They have been involved in an accident involving a motorcycle,” told www.bbc.co.uk. “They have been taken to hospital.”
The accident happened near Glyfada, a southern Athens suburb where the Greek team has its training headquarters.
It has been reported that the injuries were “not just scratches”, but it remains unclear whether their injuries would allow them to compete.
Kenteris and Thanou arrived in Greece from Chicago yesterday afternoon, at approximately 3pm, and went to the Olympic Village, after which they were said to have been given leave to return to their homes to collect personal belongings.
Under the strict guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Kenteris and Thanou face the threat of an automatic two-year suspensions for missing a test.
The claims coming out of the Greek camp were that the pair were never actually informed that official IOC drug testers had requested their presence.
Neither Kenteris, 31, nor Thanou, 29, silver medallist in Sydney and the first Greek athlete ever to win a gold medal at the world indoor championships in 1999, have ever tested positive for a banned substance.
Greek heroes Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have been injured in a road accident and taken to hospital.
The crash happened shortly after the athletes missed a drugs test, which could result in them being banned from the Olympics.
Kenteris, 200metres champion in Sydney and the man tipped to light the Olympic flame at tonight’s opening ceremony in Athens, together with Greek golden girl Thanou, missed a random test yesterday evening after leaving the Games Village and failing to return before the time limit to take the test expired.
And following an emergency meeting of the International Olympic Committee last night the pair are now facing a hearing today.
But Greek Olympic team spokesman George Gakis revealed the latest twist in the tale.
“They have been involved in an accident involving a motorcycle,” told www.bbc.co.uk. “They have been taken to hospital.”
The accident happened near Glyfada, a southern Athens suburb where the Greek team has its training headquarters.
It has been reported that the injuries were “not just scratches”, but it remains unclear whether their injuries would allow them to compete.
Kenteris and Thanou arrived in Greece from Chicago yesterday afternoon, at approximately 3pm, and went to the Olympic Village, after which they were said to have been given leave to return to their homes to collect personal belongings.
Under the strict guidelines of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Kenteris and Thanou face the threat of an automatic two-year suspensions for missing a test.
The claims coming out of the Greek camp were that the pair were never actually informed that official IOC drug testers had requested their presence.
Neither Kenteris, 31, nor Thanou, 29, silver medallist in Sydney and the first Greek athlete ever to win a gold medal at the world indoor championships in 1999, have ever tested positive for a banned substance.
SEGAS President on KEDERIS and THANOU's Road Accident
ATHENS, 13 August - Vasilis SEVASTIS, President of the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS), said tonight that Greek athletes Konstantinos KEDERIS and Ekaterini THANOU had visited their coach, Chistos TZEKOS, in the southern suburb of Athens, Glyfada, and were returning to the Olympic Village when the coach's motorcycle that they were driving slid on the road causing the two athletes to fall off the bike.
According to SEVASTIS, the athletes were not seriously injured, and more news will be available later on today.
ATHENS, 13 August - Vasilis SEVASTIS, President of the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS), said tonight that Greek athletes Konstantinos KEDERIS and Ekaterini THANOU had visited their coach, Chistos TZEKOS, in the southern suburb of Athens, Glyfada, and were returning to the Olympic Village when the coach's motorcycle that they were driving slid on the road causing the two athletes to fall off the bike.
According to SEVASTIS, the athletes were not seriously injured, and more news will be available later on today.
According to earlier reports, the drug committee notified the greek officials about the test 1 hour before the deadline. at the time the two athlets were not in the olympic village
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