by Rob Woollard
ATHENS, Aug 19 (AFP) - A weightlifting drug scandal and yet another twist to the saga of disgraced Greek sprinter Kostadinos Kenteris overshadowed US swimming star Michael Phelps' Olympic gold medal hunt Thursday.
Phelps' drive for a record-equalling seven gold medals was ended at the hands of Australian rival Ian Thorpe this week, but the 19-year-old can still wrap up his Athens campaign with a remarkable six golds.
He will seek to add the 200m individual medley title to his 400m medley, 200m fly and 4x200 freestyle crowns later Thursday as 15 gold medals go up for grabs on day six of the games.
But Phelps' heroics were overshadowed by fresh revelations involving the perenennially drug-tainted sport of weightlifting.
That was followed by news that sprinter Kenteris had faked a mysterious motorcycle accident he was supposedly involved in with fellow sprinter Ekaterini Thanou after the pair missed a drugs test last week.
Greek heroes Thanou and Kenteris withdrew from the Athens Games on Wednesday at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) hearing into their missed test.
The IOC said meanwhile five weightlifters had tested positive for banned substances since teams of drug-busters started work on July 30 in the latest drugs controversy to hit the tarnished sport.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) named the five as male lifters Viktor Chislean of Moldova, Zoltan Kecskes of Hungary and women Sule Sahbaz of Turkey, Pratima Kumari Na of India and Morocco's Wafa Ammouri.
IWF President Tamas Ajan said the sport was determined to expose drugs cheats. "After these games we will find means to be even tougher as we fight to rid the sport of this scourge," Ajan said.
The IWF came down hard on drug cheats after the sport's future in the Olympics was threatened following a number of high-profile cases.
An IOC spokeswoman denied that weightlifting was becoming an embarrassment to the Olympics as the new scandal followed a furore in Sydney four years ago that led to three Bulgarian lifters being expelled.
IOC chief Jacques Rogge -- who has made the war on doping a priority since his election as president in 2001 -- praised the IWF's hard-line on drugs.
"Being informed that five athletes did not respect the rules at the Olympic Games is never pleasant," Rogge said in a statement.
"However the IOC praises the work and determination of the IWF which according to its rules tests its athletes on a systematic basis."
All 260 weightlifters qualified for the games had been subjected to dope tests, IWF officials said.
Meanwhile another controversy involving Wednesday's chaotic three-day event equestrian competition is set for a new twist after Britain, France and the United States announced plans to launch an appeal, warning they were prepared to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if necessary.
Germany won the team event only to be stripped of the victory following an objection by the French team who claimed that German rider Bettina Hoy had crossed the start line twice thereby gaining an advantage.
The Germans successfully counter-appealed and were then reinstated as winners ahead of France and bronze medallists Britain.
In other sport, Russian pin-up girl Svetlana Khorkina will bid farewell to the Olympics with one last attempt at the all-around gold medal that has so far eluded her.
The 25-year-old Russian diva, the reigning world champion, could become the first non-teen since 1968 to capture the Olympic all-around crown.
Elsewhere, the first medals of the badminton tournament were settled with Indonesian-born Mia Audina of the Netherlands losing the women's single final to Chinese second seed Zhang Ning 8-11, 11-6, 11-7.
There was an upset in the judo competition, when Olympic and world champion Kosei Inoue was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the -100kg category.