Greece’s Olympic 200m champion Kostadinos Kenteris and women’s 100m silver medallist Ekaterini Thanou have asked for a further 48-hour delay in their hearing with Olympic chiefs, their lawyer revealed.
The two Greek stars — who risk being expelled from the Games for missing a mandatory drugs test last Thursday — were not present at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) disciplinary commission hearing in Athens on Monday. The commission is investigating why they missed the test.
The duo — represented by their controversial coach, Christos Tzekos, and their lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos — claim they need further medical treatment for injuries suffered in a mysterious motorbike accident last Thursday before they can appear before the commission.
”I have asked for another 48-hour extension so the athletes can come here before the commission,” said Dimitrakopoulos.
”They are fighters. They have been fighters all their life and they want to come here. The IOC said they will consider and I am awaiting another medical certificate to come from the hospital.”
The two men had been taken through the lobby to the meeting room where the three-man disciplinary commission of Thomas Bach, Denis Oswald and Sergei Bubka will decide the fate of the two Greek track stars.
Bubka escorted the Greek duo into the room.
A representative of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has been invited to attend.
If the commission decides to expel the two superstars from the Games, the IOC executive board will meet on Monday evening, the IOC’s official spokesperson announced.
The board has the final say in the athletes’ fate in Athens, though they have the right to appeal to the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The two athletes could not appear at an IOC hearing on Friday because they were recovering in an Athens hospital from cuts and bruises following the motorbike accident, which is being investigated by the Greek police.
Since his surprise victory at the Sydney Games, 31-year-old Kenteris — who was crowned world champion in 2001 and European king in 2002 — has faced consistent accusations that he evades drugs testers.
The IAAF announced that Kenteris and Thanou are also under investigation for missing a doping test in Chicago, Illinois, last week and one in Tel Aviv in late July.
Tzekos received a two-year ban in the late 1990s from the IAAF after he barred a hotel exit in Dortmund, Germany, when a team turned up to test his athletes. — Sapa-AFP