ATHENS (AFP) - Greek sprinters and doping suspects Kostadinos Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou did not appear before Greek prosecutors to testify about their failure to show up at a mandatory drugs test on the eve of the Olympics last month, judiciary sources said.
Instead, their lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos submitted a joint statement in which the two disgraced runners reaffirmed they did not flee the drugs test on August 12.
Kenteris and Thanou also denied they faked a motorbike accident to delay facing drug testers a few hours later. The two training partners offered four eye-witnesses to back up their claim.
Kenteris and Thanou had appeared before Greek prosecutors Spyros Mouzakitis and Athena Theodoropoulou to testify as witnesses in the affair at the end of August.
But after a first round of testimonies by sports officials, doctors and several other witnesses, the two prosecutors summoned Kenteris and Thanou to testify again as suspects for obstructing anti-doping tests and faking an accident.
Kenteris, 200m gold medallist in Sydney and Thanou, runner-up in the women's 100m four years ago, quit the Games on August 18 after spending time in hospital recovering from the alleged motorbike accident.
In their statement, Kenteris and Thanou claimed they were informed of the August 12 drugs test only four hours after anti-doping officials arrived at the Olympic athletes' village, where the two sprinters had checked in earlier in the day.
By the time they were sought, Kenteris and Thanou claimed they had already left the village to pick up personal belongings from their homes.
Nobody from the Greek Olympic team allegedly informed them they were wanted for the test.
But Greek sports officials told prosecutors they had put the two athletes' coach Christos Tzekos on notice.
Tzekos testified Monday. The controversial coach is also under investigation as a suspect for distributing banned steroids through his nutritional supplement businesses.
Mouzakitis and Theodoropoulou have sought assistance from US officials prosecuting California-based laboratory BALCO, which is accused of distributing illegal performance enhancing drugs.
Speaking to reporters after his testimony, Tzekos denied he had any link with BALCO.