Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou reiterated her innocence on Sunday over evading a drug test at the 2004 Athens Games, denying she has ever doped and confirming her retirement.
Thanou and male teammate Costas Kenteris were accused of faking a motorcycle accident on the eve of the Olympics to avoid doping officials. The pair were withdrawn from the games, and later settled with the IAAF for the lesser charge of failing to provide a sample three times.
Thanou is adamant the accident took place, accusing the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and media of rushing to judgment.
“I made no mistake — the only thing that hurt was not being there at the starting blocks in the 100m final,” Thanou said on a chat show on Greek state TV. “The whole world had prejudged the result ... I kept the MRI scan that shows a bruised hip.”
“I have gone through more than 200 doping controls in my career, 150 of which were random ones with no notice ... a high-level athlete does not play with these things,” she said.
Thanou and Kenteris were among Greece’s brightest hopes for gold in 2004. Thanou had won silver in the 100m at the 2000 Olympics, when Kenteris took gold in the 200m.
On Aug. 12, 2004, it is agreed that Kenteris and Thanou showed up at the Olympic village before leaving at some stage.
The stories diverge after this point.
One side of the story claims the pair found out anti-doping officials were waiting for them and fled.
Thanou said they only found out there were officials waiting for them when they were at their coach’s house. The coach lent them his bike to return to the Olympic Village.
On their way, they crashed and were rushed to a hospital.
The media were immediately skeptical of the story. After an appearance before the IOC disciplinary committee and despite no evidence of doping, Kenteris and Thanou surrendered their Olympic credentials.
“On the morning of Aug. 13, we were suddenly told we had missed three tests,” Thanou said.
Athletic’s world governing body suspended them provisionally in December 2004. In 2006, the IAAF dropped the more serious charges of evasion and refusal to provide samples.
Despite being cleared to compete since 2006 after her two-year ban, Thanou was barred from the 2008 Beijing Games under an IOC rule that bans athletes thought to be guilty of improper conduct or of bringing the Olympics into disrepute.
The IOC also decided last year to not award Thanou the gold in the 100m from the Sydney Games despite Marion Jones being stripped of the medal after admitting using banned substances.
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