Marathon
marred by attack on race leader
Last Updated: Aug
29 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- The final athletic event of the Athens Olympics took a bizarre and
tragic turn when a spectator grabbed the marathon race leader with just
five kilometres left on Sunday.
Vanderlei de Lima
of Brazil finished with the bronze medal after a man wearing a costume
and a sign on his back ran into the race lane, grabbed the runner and
pulled him into the crowd.
De Lima came back
onto the course but quickly lost his lead to Stephano Baldini of Italy,
who ran into Panathinaikon Stadium and crossed the finish line at two
hours, 10 minutes and 55 seconds to win the gold.
"I was scared, because
I didn't know what could happen to me, whether he was armed with a knife,
a revolver or something and whether he was going to kill me," Lima said
after the race. "That's what cost me the gold medal."
"It's a major tragedy,"
says CBC athletics analyst Steve Ovett. "It sickens me to see something
like this happen. It's absolutely disgusting."
Roberto Gesta de
Melo, the head of the Brazilian track federation, has written an appeal
on behalf of Lima. "Someone took him out the race and we are asking
for a gold medal for our athlete," said de Melo. "Solutions like that
have been done in the past for other events."
The protestor was
identified as defrocked Irish priest Cornelius Horan, the same man who
disrupted the British Grand Prix in July 2003 by running onto the course
during the race.
Horan, who once
wrote a book about an upcoming apocalypse, wore a piece of paper on
his back which read "The Grand Prix Priest. Israel Fulfilment of Prophecy
Says The Bible."
He was arrested
and taken to a jail in Athens.
Mebrahtom Keflezighi
of the United States finished second with a time of 2:11:29 and de Lima
managed to salvage a bronze with a time of 2:12:11.
De Lima will
also receive the special Pierre de Coubertin Medal in recognition
of his "exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values,"
the IOC said.
The medal is named
after the founder of the modern Olympics.
The 2003 Pan American
Games gold medallist had run ahead of the pack midway through the race,
reaching the halfway mark in 1:07:23. But a pack of 20 runners, including
world record holder Paul Tergat of Kenya, were not far behind.
But rather than
fade with each successive stage, de Lima seemed to get stronger and
managed to hang on to a 40-second lead for much of the second-half of
the race until the spectator attacked.
The race began in
the town of Marathon, northeast of Athens, 47.2 kilometres from the
Olympic Village, following the ancient route Athenian soldier Pheidippides
was said to have taken to deliver the news of a victory over the Persians
at the battle of Marathon.
The conditions were,
as expected, harsh on the runners. The temperature at the start of the
race was 30 degrees and felt like 39 C with the humidity.
Runners began to
drop out of the race at about the one hour and 20-minute mark, as the
mix of hilly regions and long stretches of straight roads began to wear
on the athletes.
It was the second
time Olympic security allowed a spectator to disrupt an event at the
Athens Games. A Canadian man wearing a tutu jumped into the pool during
the men's synchronized diving competition.
But this incident
was doubly worse, for it not only affected a competitor directly but
also marred what is seen as one of the signature events of the Games,
the last race before the Closing Ceremony.
"This is really
one of the saddest moments in sport," Ovett said.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Hungarian
hammer thrower, Colombian cyclist stripped of medals
Aug 29 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Anti-doping officials appear to have Hungarian strongmen in their
crosshairs.
Hammer throw gold
medallist Adrian Annus became the third Olympic medallist from Hungary
to be stripped of a medal over a doping infraction on Sunday, according
to a member of International Olympic Committee's executive board.
Meanwhile, Maria
Luisa Calle Williams of Colombia, who won the bronze in track cycling's
points race, lost her medal on Sunday after testing positive for heptaminol,
a banned stimulant.
That brings the
number of athletes who have been stripped of medals at the Athens Games
to seven, including three gold medallists. Three of those athletes are
Hungarian: Annus, discus gold medallist Robert Fazekas and weightlifting
silver medallist Ferenc Gyurkovics.
The other Olympic
champion to forfeit her gold medal was Russian shot putter Irina Korzhanenko.
Annus did pass a
doping test after his gold-medal performance on Aug. 22, but he put
his medal in jeopardy by missing another drug test scheduled for Friday
in Hungary. Refusal to undergo a doping test can be tantamount to a
positive test in the eyes of anti-doping authorities.
The IOC member,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the decision to strip Annus
of the medal was made after a disciplinary hearing on Sunday.
Annus was not present
at the hearing.
Annus had returned
to Hungary and abruptly retired from competition following his victory,
but the IOC demanded a follow-up test because of suspicions tht he may
have tampered with his post-event drug test.
Anti-doping officials
alleged that his countryman Fazekas attempted to use another person's
urine instead of his own in his drug test.
With Annus' disqualification
from the Olympics, pre-Games favourite Koji Murofushi of Japan moves
up from the silver to the gold, Ivan Tikhon takes the silver and Esref
Apak of Turkey will be awarded the bronze.
Calle Williams'
loss of her bronze medal means that Erin Mirabella of the U.S., who
finished fourth in the women's points race on Wednesday, moves up from
fourth place to bronze. Russia's Olga Slyusareva won the gold in the
points race, with Belem Guerrero Mendez of Mexico claiming the silver.
IOC officials, who
spoke on condition of anonymity with The Associated Press, reported
that Calle claims she was unaware she was using an illegal substance.
Under IOC regulations,
however, athletes are ultimately deemed responsible for substances they
ingest, meaning Calle stands to lose her medal regardless of the circumstances.
With files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
IOC
head praises 'splendid' Olympics
Aug 29 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- After a summer of worry over delays, unfinished venues and the threat
of a terrorist attack, International Olympic Committee president Jacques
Rogge praised Athens for putting on a "splendid" Olympic Games.
Rogge, speaking
at a Sunday news conference, said Athens organizers had defied skeptics
who thought the tiny nation of Greece wouldn't be able to deliver. "I'm
an extremely happy president of the IOC," he said. "We always expressed
our confidence in our Greek friends. I've always said I believed there
was enough time to finish the preparations in due time.
"Many did not believe
me. Many did not believe the IOC, saying, `Oh, but you're nice to the
Greeks.' We knew they could do it amid a very strong skepticism and
criticism internationally. I think our friends have delivered in Athens
in a very splendid way."
Rogge did not go
as far in his praise as his predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who
customarily called each Olympics the "best ever." "The Olympic Games
is a competition between athletes," Rogge said. "It's not a competition
between organizing committees."
Rogge also addressed
the issues of judging and doping that were once again front-and-centre
at the Athens Games.
He said the IOC
plans to consult international sports federations to avoid the judging
errors and scoring mistakes that plagued gymnastics, fencing, equestrian
and other events in Athens.
And he said the
22 athletes caught for drug violations during these Games was a sign
the anti-doping program was working.
Rogge plans to increase
"by a vast amount" the number of athletes tested at the 2006 Winter
Games in Turin, Italy, and the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing. One in
four athletes was tested in Athens.
Most of the banned
substances found were older steroids like stanozolol, and not the more
modern EPO and human growth hormone.
Not a single athlete
in Athens tested positive for the more cutting-edge substances. Rogge
said athletes were likely deterred from using those drugs, not that
the testing procedures themselves were flawed.
with files from
Canadian Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Hungarian
lifter stripped of silver; 22 doping violations in Athens
Aug 28 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Another Hungarian athlete has been stripped of an Olympic medal because
of a doping infraction at the Athens Games.
Ferenc Gyurkovics,
a silver medallist in weightlifting's 105-kilogram class, will be stripped
of his medal and expelled from the Games after he tested positive for
the steroid oxandrolone, the International Olympic Committee announced
Saturday.
The 24-year-old
set an Olympic record in the snatch with a lift of 195 kg, although
he finished behind gold medallist Dmitri Berestov of Russia in the overall
standings.
With Gyurkovics'
disqualification, Igor Razoronov of Ukraine moves up to the silver medal
from the bronze, and Russian Gleb Pisarevskiy becomes the bronze medallist.
Mabel Fonseca, a
female wrestler representing Puerto Rico, was also kicked out of the
Olympics on Saturday.
Fonseca, a 32-year-old
who placed fifth in the women's 55-kilogram freestyle tournament on
August 23, tested positive for the steroid stanozolol. It's the same
steroid that caused Ben Johnson's disgrace at the 1988 Seoul Olympics
and has again been at the centre of doping controversies at the Athens
Games.
Gyurkovics and Fonseca
bring the tally of athletes caught for doping to 22 in Athens, by far
the most of any Games. The previous record was 12, set at the 1984 Olympics.
Gyurkovics is the
fifth medallist in Athens to forfeit a medal over a doping violation.
He's also the fourth Hungarian to be expelled from the Games and the
12th weightlifter.
The Hungarian numbers
could go up, pending the outcome of hammer throw gold medallist Adrian
Annus' disciplinary hearing with the IOC on Sunday.
Annus missed a drug
test that was supposed to be conducted at the Hungarian-Austrian border
on Friday. Annus' doping test came back negative after winning the gold
medal on Aug. 22, but the IOC wants to question him about whether he
tampered with his urine test.
The IOC alleged
that Hungarian discus thrower Robert Fazekas also failed to comply with
drug testing procedures and stripped him of the gold medal he won earlier
in the Athens Games. Fazekas maintains he is innocence.
Schmitt said the
Hungarians will plead Fazekas' case to the Court of Arbitration for
Sport. "We
think there could be a kind of investigation exactly how the procedure
went on in the sample taking," Schmitt said.
With files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Canadian
judge told to raise gymnastics score
Aug 26 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Fearing for his job and a fuming crowd, a Canadian gymnastics judge
told CanWest News Service on Thursday that he changed the score for
a Russian athlete at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Chris Grabowecky
said he raised Alexei Nemov's score in the horizontal bar at the insistence
of Adrian Stoica, technical director of the International Gymnastics
Federation.
Grabowecky, who
returned to Calgary on Tuesday, said the crowd roared furiously when
Nemov's mark was posted Monday at the Olympic Indoor Hall and chaos
threatened to erupt.
Grabowecky called
his experience in Athens an "extremely stressful" judging assignment.
Nemov's initial
score was 9.725, which was below the 9.787 he needed to win the bronze.
Grabowecky said
Stoica told him to boost Nemov's score and he "didn't really have a
choice" but to alter the mark from 9.65 to 9.75.
Grabowecky felt
if he didn't obey Stoica's demand, he would be dropped from the judging
panel.
The Malaysian judge
also changed his score. Even with the altered marks, Nemov finished
in fifth place.
Grabowecky said
he thought Nemov committed obvious mistakes. Stoica told the Washington
Post that the change to the score had to do with re-assessing Nemov's
technical merits in his routine and not an attempt to satisfy the crowd.
with files from
Canadian Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
COC
demands answers on score that scuppered Shewfelt Last Updated:
Aug 26 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Kyle Shewfelt initially said he doesn't want to get involved in the
judging controversy that denied him a bronze medal in the men's vault,
but the Canadian Olympic Committee isn't letting the matter rest.
In a letter to
International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) president Bruno Grandi,
the COC has demanded an explanation for the marks given to Marian Dragulescu
of Romania, who squeaked past Shewfelt for the bronze medal despite
a fall on the second of his two vaults.
"What we're asking
from them is we'd like to get a response within 24 hours and an idea
of how they are going to rectify the situation," said Jackie DeSouza,
the COC's director of communications.
Canadian gymnastics
officials say the marks given to Dragulescu were mathematically impossible
because of mandatory deductions for mistakes in his second vault.
The Canadian contingent
also complained that the scores from the individual judges were improperly
compiled.
Gymnastics Canada
president Jean-Paul Caron was given an explanation of the scoring by
Romania's Adrian Stoica, who heads up the men's technical committee.
However, officials
from Gymnastics Canada were not happy with the explanation, prompting
the COC to ask the FIG to explain itself more fully. The COC said that
despite his initial reluctance to pursue the issue, Shewfelt wanted
a more satisfactory answer to the questions raised by the vault results.
"(Shewfelt) has
since changed his mind," said DeSouza. "We've talked to him and he said
he wants to move forward as much as possible because he wants to get
an explanation."
With files from
Canadian Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Probe
seizes Greek sprinters' medical records
Aug 25 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Prosecutors investigating disgraced Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris
and Ekaterini Thanou seized hospital records on Wednesday concerning
the injuries the two suffered on the eve of the Athens Games.
Spyros Mouzakitis
and Athina Theodoropoulou entered the Athens' KAT trauma hospital and
left with files containing the hospitalization records of the two athletes,
who withdrew from the Games last week after missing a doping test, a
source in the Athens prosecutors office told the Associated Press.
Investigators are
looking into the records as part of a criminal investigation to determine
whether a reported motorcycle accident hours after their missed doping
test actually happened.
Kenteris, the 200-metre
gold medallist in Sydney, and Thanou, the 100-m silver medallist, stayed
in the hospital for four days and missed two International Olympic Committee's
disciplinary hearings. The hearings were called to determine whether
the two intentionally evaded a doping test at the Athens Olympic village.
Eventually the two
sprinters withdrew from the Games, though they have denied any wrongdoing,
claiming the accident happened as they tried to hurry to the athlete's
village.
Reports from a medical
officer suggested the injuries were superficial.
The criminal investigation
headed by Athens' chief prosecutor Dimitris Papangeolopoulos into the
motorcycle accident expanded in the past week as federal inspectors
searched the warehouse and offices of Kenteris's coach Christos Tsekos.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Steroids
found in warehouse used by Kenteris' coach
Aug 24 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Greek officials have found supplements containing anabolic steroids
in a warehouse used by the coach of disgraced sprinters Kostas Kenteris
and Katerina Thanou. Officials from Greece's National Organization of
Medicines (EOF) found the supplements when they searched the warehouse
and office of coach Christos Tsekos on Aug. 21.
The organization,
Greece's public pharmaceutical watchdog, said the supplements included
materials that didn't have a distribution licence. The EOF said more
than 1,000 "units" of food supplements had ephedrine as their main ingredient.
"Small quantities of medicines that contained anabolic steroids" were
also found in the warehouse.
The EOF said it
would "take all the necessary actions that are foreseen by the law."
The search of the
warehouse and office was part of an inquiry into whether the Greek sprinters
tried to avoid doping tests on the eve of the Athens Games.
They disappeared
from the Olympic Village shortly after International Olympic Committee
inspectors told Greek sports officials they wanted to conduct drug tests
on the sprinters. Some four hours later, Kenteris and Thanou appeared
at an Athens hospital, where they were treated with injuries they claimed
to have suffered in a motorcycle crash as they were heading for the
Olympic Village.
The athletes later
withdrew from the Games.
with files from
The Canadian Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Russian
shot putter stripped of gold after doping test
Aug 23 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Russian shot putter Irina Korzhanenko was officially stripped of her
gold medal by the International Olympic Committee on Monday.
Korzhanenko, who
tested positive for the steroid stanozolol earlier in the week, became
the first champion of the Athens Games to be stripped of an Olympic
gold.
On Sunday, Greek
weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was stripped of his bronze from the 62-kilogram
class because a positive test for testosterone. "Rules are for everyone,"
said Athens 2004 spokesperson Seraphim Kotrotsos. "It's a symbolic message
from Ancient Olympia."
The shot put competition
took place at Ancient Olympia Stadium. Korzhanenko had been the first
woman to win a gold at the historic site, since women were not allowed
to compete in the ancient Olympics.
With the disqualification
of Korzhanenko, Cuba's Yumileidi Cumba Jay is the new gold medallist
in the shot put, upgraded from her silver medal. Nadine Kleinert of
Germany will move up to silver, and Svetlana Kriveleva of Russia will
be awarded the bronze.
Korzhanenko's winning
throw had been 21.06 m, almost 1.5 m ahead of Cumba Jay.
A backup, or B sample,
confirmed Korzhanenko's positive test. Korzhanenko has been expelled
from the Games by the IOC executive board.
Stanozolol became
infamous in 1988, when Canadian Ben Johnson tested positive for the
steroid at the Seoul Olympics and was stripped of his gold medal in
the men's 100 metres. "We didn't want to repeat Salt Lake City but now
we have a new Hiroshima," said Nikolai Durmanov, head of the Russian
Anti-Doping Agency, alluding to the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics,
where cross-country skiers Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina were stripped
of their medals after testing positive for the endurance-boosting substance
darbepoetin.
Canadian Beckie
Scott was the beneficiary in that case, eventually seeing her bronze
medal upgraded to gold with the Russian disqualifications. "It was a
great surprise because the basic priority in preparing for the Olympics
was to ensure we had a clean team," Dumanov said.
Russian weightlifter
Albina Khomich was also banned from the Games over a flunked doping
test.
Dumanov suggested
there remained systemic problems in Russia's amateur sport governance
that prevented a total cleanup of Russian sport. "If we had an independent
anti-doping organization which was free of corporate interests, of influence
from the federations, from the influence of bureaucrats, then we would
have more confidence in its effectiveness," he said.
Cuban Olympic spokesperson
Pedro Cabrera, expressed his contingent's satisfaction with the decision
to award Cumba Jay the gold. "She deserves the gold medal because of
her dedication and hard work before and during the Games," he said.
It isn't the first
time Kozhanenko has run afoul of anti-doping authorities. She was stripped
of her silver medal at the 1999 world indoor champions over a doping
infraction. Upon returning to competition, she won the 2003 world indoor
title and finished fourth at the world outdoor championship in Paris
last season.
Two steroid violations
warrants a lifetime ban under international rules. "Irina is in the
Olympic Village and she is totally dismayed, and of course she is not
in a vacuum. We are talking to her, trying to find the reasons why it
all happened," Durmanov said.
Canadian Dick Pound,
the outspoken head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, was pleased upon
hearing the news of the positive test. "That's good," said Pound. "If
we got another one (cheater), that's great. It shows that you can't
go to Ancient Olympia and screw around and get away with it."
Olga Shchukina of
Uzbekistan, tested positive for another steroid, clenbuterol, prior
to the shot put event. She finished last in her qualifying group and
was kicked out of the Olympics on Friday.
with files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Greek
weightlifter stripped of bronze medal
Aug 22 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis was stripped of his Olympic bronze
medal Sunday by the International Olympic Committee executive board
following a doping offence.
Greek weightlifter
Leonidas Sampanis was stripped of his bronze medal Sunday following
a doping infraction. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) It was the first medal
stripped from an athlete at the Athens Games due to doping. "We very
much believe in Sampanis' innocence and we will try to prove it," said
Yiannis Sgouros, head of the Greek weightlifting federation.
Sampanis, 32, captured
bronze in the 62-kilogram category Monday for his third career Olympic
medal. He later tested positive for twice the amount of allowed testosterone.
Doctors established
the testosterone came from outside the body.
Because of the IOC
decision, the fourth-place finisher, Venezuela's Israel Jose Rubio Rivero,
was awarded the bronze. The gold and silver medals went to Chinese weightlifters
Shi Zhiyong and Le Maosheng.
Any other sanctions
against Sampanis, including a ban from the sport, would be decided by
the International Weightlifting Federation.
Sampanis denied
ever knowingly taking banned substances. "I swear, honestly I have never
taken any banned substances, I swear on the lives of my two angels,
my children," a tearful Sampanis told reporters Saturday. "I have passed
many tests in my 10 years as a professional and I have never ever tested
positive. I beg you, all Greeks, not to desert me."
Sampanis was tested
Aug. 16 after winning the medal. He told the IOC on Aug. 7 that he had
been injected with an undisclosed drug for an injury, but IOC medical
director, Patrick Schamasch, said that had nothing to do with the positive
tests.
Sampanis's disqualification
by the IOC is another embarrassment for the host Greeks, who have already
dealt with the scandal over the missed drug tests by star sprinters
Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou.
Weightlifting has
been at the centre of the majority of the doping scandals in Athens.
Nine weightlifters, including Sampanis have flunked drug tests.
with files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Russian
weightlifter flunks drug test; removed from Games
Aug 21 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Russia withdrew former women's world superheavyweight champion weightlifter
Albina Khomich from the 2004 Athens Olympics on Saturday after she tested
positive for a banned steroid.
Alexander Rattner,
a Russian Olympic committee spokesman, confirmed Khomich's removal from
the Games. Khomich tested positive for the steroid methandrostenalone,
a Russian Olympic source told Reuters. She is one of several weightlifters
to become embroiled in doping scandals since the Games began.
Khomich's backup
sample, or B test, will be analyzed Sunday to verify the result.
The Russian weightlifter,
who turns 28 on Tuesday, was the 2001 world women's superheavyweight
champion.
Weightlifting has
been dogged by multiple doping incidents at the Athens Games and throughout
2004.
The International
Weightlifting Federation, the sport's world governing body, confirmed
Thursday that the five weightlifters suspended after testing postive
for banned substances before the Athens Olympics are Wafa Ammouri (Morocco),
Victor Chislean (Moldova), Zoltan Kecskes (Hungary), Pratima Kumari
(India) and Shabaz Sule (Turkey). The sixth and seventh offenders reportedly
failed tests conducted by the International Olympic Committee.
Greek weightlifter
Leonidas Sampanis, a bronze medallist in the 62-kilogram class, also
tested positive for a banned substance. Myanmar's Nan Aye Khine was
the first weightlifter tossed from the Olympics after finishing fourth
in last Saturday's 48-kilogram competition when the results of her pre-Olympic
test came back positive.
Officials from India
revealed Thursday that Sanamacha Chanu, who placed fourth in Sunday's
53 kg event, was caught by the IOC.
Twenty-one elite
weightlifters have been either caught or suspended in 2004 – that's
one in every 13 Olympic qualifiers.
Admittedly embarrassed
by such statistics, the IWF remains committed to expelling cheaters
from what has long been considered the Olympics' dirtiest sport.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Greek
official's resignation offer over drug scandal turned down
Aug 20 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Greece's Olympic team manager offered to resign Friday because of
drug scandals involving the host country, but Greek authorities did
not accept the offer.
"The president of
the Greek Olympic Committee [Landis Nicolau] was informed of the resignation
but refused to accept it so [Yiannis Papadoyiannakis] remains in charge
of the Greek Olympic team for now," Greek team spokesman George Gakis
said.
Papadoyiannakis
offered to resign after Greek weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis, a bronze
medallist in the 62-kilogram class, tested positive for a banned substance.
Sampanis won silver
medals in the previous two Games.
It is another bodyblow
to the Greeks, who were reeling from the withdrawal of Greek sprinting
stars Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou from the Games in the wake
of a scandal over a missed doping test. The sprinting duo were then
allegedly involved in a motorcycle crash, which city prosecutors are
now investigating. Prosecutors suspect the accident may have been staged
to cover up doping infractions.
While Greece has
been modestly successful in track and field in recent years, it has
long been a power in weightlifting and takes a great deal of national
pride in its strongman tradition. But following the doping scandals
of the Sydney Olympics, weightlifting is again under the microscope
in Athens.
A total of seven
weightlifters have been banned from competition over positive drug tests
in the past three days. Two lifters were disqualified just prior to
competing in their events.
Weightlifting has
been under a great deal of pressure from the IOC to crack down on doping;
21 elite-level weightlifters have tested positive for banned substances
or suspended so far in 2004.
In other doping
news, shot putter Olga Shchukina of Uzbekistan also tested positive
for a banned substance. Shchukina finished 19th in her pool and was
eliminated from competition on Wednesday.
With files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Police
investigate Kenteris' coach
Last Updated: Fri
Aug 20 14:24:08 EDT 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Greek authorities raided the office and warehouse of the coach of
two disgraced Greek sprinters as part of a widening investigation into
allegations of doping. Police were investigating whether Christos Tzekos,
who coaches scandal-plagued Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini
Thanou, was illegally selling nutritional supplements.
Two investigators
from the Greek National Organization of Medicines (EOF) accompanied
by five police officers and a prosecutor entered two locations in Tzekos'
food supplement company.
Government spokesman
Theodoris Roussopoulos said the search was part of a larger investigation
into the two sprinters that began after the two missed a doping test
on the eve of the Athens Games and then were involved in a reported
motorcycle crash.
It's a development
that will only deepen the suspicions surrounding Kenteris and Thanou,
who withdrew from the Olympics on Wednesday in the fallout of the scandal.
A criminal inquiry has been launched to determine whether that accident
was staged.
Kenteris said on
Wednesday he has broken ties with Tzekos.
It's yet another
headache for Greek Olympic officials, who are also dealing with reports
that Greek weightlifting bronze medallist Leonidas Sampanis has tested
positive for a banned substance.
It also recalls
the saga of the Bay-Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), the Victor-Conte
run nutritional supplement company accused of supplying banned substances,
such as the designer steroid THG, to track stars like 100 m world-record
holder Tim Montgomery, Kelli White and Dwain Chambers.
with files from
Associated Press
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Seven
weightlifting cheats finally identified
Aug 19 19:26:57
EDT 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- All seven world-class weightlifters failing drug tests have finally
been identified.
The International
Weightlifting Federation confirmed Thursday that the five weightlifters
suspended after testing postive for banned substances before the Athens
Olympics are Wafa Ammouri (Morocco), Victor Chislean (Moldova), Zoltan
Kecskes (Hungary), Pratima Kumari (India) and Shabaz Sule (Turkey).
The sixth and seventh offenders reportedly failed tests conducted by
the International Olympic Committee.
Myanmar's Nan Aye
Khine was tossed out of the Olympics after finishing fourth in last
Saturday's 48-kilogram competition when the results of her pre-Olympic
test came back positive.
And officials from
India revealed Thursday that Sanamacha Chanu, who placed fourth in Sunday's
53-kg event, was caught by the IOC.
Twenty-one elite
weightlifters have been either caught or suspended in 2004 – that's
one in every 13 Olympic qualifiers.
Admittedly embarrassed
by such statistics, the IWF remains committed to expelling cheaters
from what has long been considered the Olympics' dirtiest sport. "I
am sure you are asking, 'Why are you digging your own grave?'" IWF president
Tamas Ajan said. "Yes, this is true. But I tell you we are doing everything
against the drugs and we are going to continue the fight against the
drugs because we are for fair play. Weightlifting has to survive the
present situation," he continued. "We are doing everything to make it
a clean sport."
Ajan claimed the
IWF commits one-third of its total budget to drug testing and is the
only Olympic sport to test its athletes in the week leading up to the
Games.
"The IOC praises
the work and determination of the weightlifting federation in its fight
against doping by testing its athletes on a systematic basis according
to its rules," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a statement.
with files from
CP Online
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Myanmar
weightlifter flunks drug test
Aug 17 10:59:02
EDT 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- A female weightlifter from Myanmar was booted out of the 2004 Athens
Olympics Monday after testing positive for a banned steroid. Nan Aye
Khine, 27, was also stripped of her fourth-place finish in Saturday's
48-kilogram division.
The International
Olympic Committee executive board said Nan tested positive for a banned
anabolic steroid in a pre-competition urine test on Thursday.
The test results
were confirmed following Saturday's competition.
Nan, during a disciplinary
commission Sunday afternoon, admitted to taking an herbal remedy that
had not been examined by a doctor.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Greek
sprinters Kenteris, Thanou to withdraw from Games
Aug 14 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou, the two Greek sprinters embroiled
in controversy after missing a doping test, have withdrawn from the
Athens Games, pending a hearing with the International Olympic Committee
Monday.
The Greek Olympic
Committee met today to discuss the fate of Kenteris, the Olympic 200-metre
champion and Thanou, the silver medallist in the 100m at Sydney.
Both sprinters must
attend an IOC disciplinary hearing on Monday to explain why they missed
a scheduled drug test on Thursday.
A hearing originally
scheduled for Friday was postponed after the two were involved in a
motorcycle accident Friday night. Earlier Saturday the Swedish athletics
team threatened to boycott the Games if the two are not banned for missing
drug tests.
"We have discussed
leaving the Games and not taking part and we are waiting for the decision
with interested ears," Swedish spokesman Johan Storakers told Reuters.
"We have not yet decided but we have seriously talked about it and will
wait to see what the final decision is."
Sweden's athletics
team has three gold medal favourites: heptathlete Carolina Kluft, triple
jumper Christian Olsson and high jumper Stephan Holm.
The two sprinters,
national heroes since their victories in Sydney, were both contenders
in their respective events.
Kenteris was also
considered a potential candidate to light the Olympic cauldron during
the Opening Ceremony on Friday. That honour instead went to windsurfer
Nikos Kaklamanakis, a gold medallist from the 1996 Games.
Both sprinters missed
a test in the United States scheduled for earlier this week after they
left a day early to return to Athens. Doping officials again tried to
conduct the tests at the Olympic village on Thursday, but neither sprinter
showed up. Later that night the two were involved in a mysterious traffic
accident that sent them to the hospital where they remain after being
treated for minor injuries.
A statement said
Kenteris "sustained a slight head injury, a sprain to the vertebra at
the back of his neck, a knee sprain and scratches to his right leg."
Thanou had "slight abdominal injuries, a sprain to the right leg." No
other vehicle was involved in the crash.
The IOC had to postpone
its Friday hearing into the missed doping tests after the athletes produced
medical documentation saying they should not be transferred from hospital.
Both sprinters could
face a two-year ban if the IOC disciplinary commission rules a missed
test is equivalent to a failed test.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
New
anti-doping tests in Athens: Pound
Aug 11 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Officials are using new tests to catch drug cheats at the Athens Olympics,
but the details are being kept secret, according to World Anti-Doping
chief Dick Pound. "We want it to stay a little secret. It will have
more effect," Pound said in an interview published Wednesday in the
French newspaper Le Parisien.
Dick Pound said
a new test to detect Human Growth Hormone is in place. (CP Photo) Pound
said a new test to detect Human Growth Hormone is in place in Athens.
However, officials don't want to reveal details of how long the new
test can detect HGH after athletes have taken the substance.
WADA has also approved
tests to detect athletes using blood transfusions or blood substitutes
to raise oxygen levels in their blood, added Pound. He said the tests
would be introduced after there's a "scientific consensus" they would
work.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Both
Kenyan boxers out of Olympics
Aug 11 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Both of Kenya's boxers are
out of the Athens Games, one after a violent attack, the other due
to doping allegations. The International Amateur Boxing Association
made the announcement on Wednesday.
Light flyweight
Suleiman Bilali Wanjau quit the Kenyan team after he was injured in
a robbery near his home, the association said. Wanjau placed sixth at
the 2000 Sydney Games.
Kenya's lone other
Olympic boxer, bantamweight David Munyasia, was barred from the Games
by the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday after testing positive
for the banned stimulant cathine. Cathine is a common drug in east Africa
found in khat – a leaf chewed for its amphetamine-like high.
IOC medical director
Patrick Schamasch said Munyasia arrived in Athens on Aug. 6 and was
tested the same day. Both his A and B samples were positive.
Munyasia did not
offer an explanation for the positive result, IOC medical director Patrick
Schamasch said Tuesday.
The IOC referred
Munyasia's case to the International Boxing Association for possible
penalties. Munyasia could face a two-year competition ban under international
rules.
Written by CBC Sports
Online staff
Edwards
slapped with 2-year ban; Will miss Olympics
Aug. 11 2004
CBC SPORTS ONLINE
- Barring a successful appeal, American sprinter Torri Edwards won't
be running in the 100 metres at the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens.
On Wednesday, the
American Arbitration Association confirmed that Edwards has been slapped
with a two-year suspension for using a banned stimulant. "Edwards was
banned for two years from all sanctioned competition beginning in July
18, 2004, and all her competitive results were disqualified from that
date," the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said in a statement.
Edwards says she'll
appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That panel's
verdict will be final and binding.
Despite the positive
drug test and the threat of suspension, Edwards was named to the American
Olympic team. She finished second in the 100 and third in the 200 at
the U.S. Olympic trials last month.
If Edwards' suspension
isn't overturned, her spot in the 100 will go to Gail Devers, who finished
fourth at the U.S. trials. Edwards' spot in the 200 will be offered
to LaShaunte'a Moore.
Edwards tested positive
for a banned stimulant at a meet in Fort-de-France, Martinique, in April.
She claims she took the banned stimulant inadvertently when her physical
therapist gave her glucose tablets which they did not know contained
the substance.
A strong medal contender,
Edwards finished second in the 100 at the world championships. She was
upgraded to world champion after Kelli White, another U.S. sprinter,
was stripped of the title this year.
White was slapped
with a two-year ban after admitting use of steroids and several other
banned substances.
With files from
Canadian Press. Written by CBC Sports Online staff
