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31 months of probation for Thanou and Kenteris

10 May 2011 / 20:05:50  GRReporter
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Probation for 31 months in prison and a fine of five thousand euros got the sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, who tried to escape the doping test before the Olympic Games in 2004 in not so a clever way. Their coach Christos Tsekos who apparently conducted the entire operation was sentenced to 33 months of probation. After seven years of investigation, the hour of truth has come and because lies have short legs, the court found that the reason the accused presented in order not to pass the test is false, there was no crash, and the eyewitnesses committed perjury.

It all started in the morning of the 12th of August, 2004 when the sprinters had to be in the Olympic village in Athens to be tested for doping before the Games begin. The two sprinters had not been found for the test, but later in the day it was reported that they had an accident with a motorbike and as a result they were taken to the Police Hospital in Athens.

The case of the sprinters involved also seven doctors from the Athens hospital that a day after the accident reported in detail the non-existent (as it appears today) injuries of Katerina and Kostas resulting from the motorbike falling. The report described cranial injuries of Kenteris and fractures of Thanou, but they were not confirmed by the forensic doctor Filipos Kutsaftis.

The false evidences were supported by two witnesses who confirmed the accident in order to make it sound more credible. The court did not remain indifferent to these minor characters in the sports drama of Greece. The doctors were sentenced to six-eight months in prison after being found guilty on charges of complicity. One of the eyewitnesses who apparently tried to lie more convincingly that the two sprinters crashed was sentenced to 15 months in prison and the other one – only to seven months. According to the Greek press publications, all the sentences could be appealed to a higher court.

Initially, the prosecutor proposed to punish the defendants with imprisonment for four years for Kenteris and Thanou, six years and a fine of 15,000 euros for Christos Tsekos, two years for the first witness, one year for the second witness and one year for the six doctors. The prosecutor's proposal for six months of imprisonment was only for one of the doctors. The charges in the case are related to violations, misrepresentation of facts to the authorities, inciting false statements and abetting to complicity in a violation, false allegations by the seven doctors and abuse of position.

Tags: SportsKostas KenterisKaterina ThanouDopingCourt
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