Thanou prepares for comeback
Katerina Thanou will return to the track after a two-year ban by competing at this Saturday’s national indoor meet, her lawyer said. It will be the sprinter’s first official race since an IAAF ban was lifted in December. The athlete, now preparing for the European Indoors, to be held March 2-4 in Birmingham, UK, will run the 60-meter sprint. Thanou was handed a two-year suspension along with fellow sprinter Costas Kenteris after failing to report for drug tests on the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics. They claimed they were in a motorbike accident and spent four days in the hospital. Still facing possible domestic prosecution, the sprinters are due in court today to face charges of perjury in connection with the alleged accident and for missing the doping tests. Kenteris’s lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, says he will request a postponement, claiming his client is abroad. The sprinters’ former coach, Christos Tzekos, also stands charged with possessing illegal substances. Two alleged witnesses to the crash are accused of perjury, along with seven hospital doctors for allegedly falsifying reports. (AP, Reuters)
