Greece asks for BALCO papers
Prosecutors investigating why Greece’s top two sprinters missed a test for performance-enhancing drugs just before the Olympics have solicited the help of their US counterparts handling the worst doping scandal to hit American sports, sources said yesterday. Media reports have claimed an as yet unidentified Greek coach was in touch with the US Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), suspected of having produced and sold to athletes an undetectable anabolic steroid. Some reports named the Greek as Christos Tzekos, who coaches Sydney sprint medalists Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou. The two runners – hot medal favorites in the Athens Games – were forced to withdraw from last month’s Olympics after failing to turn up for a doping test. They were subsequently hospitalized for five days for injuries they claim to have suffered during a motorcycle accident. Prosecutors Athina Theodoropoulou and Spyros Mouzakitis will be interrogating Tzekos, who runs a nutritional supplement business, on Monday.
