ATHENS (AFP) - Greek sprinters Kostadinos Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are to face charges for missing a mandatory doping test and faking a motorbike crash to keep testers at bay on the eve of the Athens Olympics, legal sources revealed.
Kenteris, a Greek hero after winning gold in the 200m at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, and Thanou, silver medallist in the women's 100m four years ago, withdrew from the Games after missing their drugs test.
The two athletes and their controversial coach Christos Tzekos are accused of obstructing International Olympic Committee testers and making false statements about an alleged motorbike accident when admitted to an Athens hospital.
The two athletes claimed they had the accident when rushing back to the Olympic village to undergo the test.
They are likely to be fined if found guilty and a ruling against them would weigh heavily into any decision the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) might make for missing the drug test.
In an interview Monday, a defiant Kenteris said he was looking forward to clearing his name.
"If a decision is taken to have charges filed against me, I will accept it gladly," the sprinter told Greek television station Alter.
"I want to go to the end and then we'll see who's right and who isn't," he added.
11/02/2004 - 12:46 GMT - AFP