The trial of the Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou has finally begun in Athens.
The athletes, both medalists at the 2000 Sydney Games, face misdemeanor charges over the motor bike accident in Athens, which occurred just after they had missed a doping test on the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
They are accused of making false statements and causing doctors to issue false testimony regarding their wounds. Both deny any wrongdoing.
Two witnesses testified on the second day of the trial this week that while they did not see the incident in question, they did see a fallen motorbike on the Athens road where Greece’s star sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou claim they had an accident on the eve of the Athens Olympics.
It was stated that at about 11pm that evening, three or four people were standing around a fallen motorbike but this did not seem strange, they said, because motorbike accidents were a common occurrence on Athens roads.
The bike was in relatively good condition and no one seemed seriously injured it was claimed. Neither of the witnesses recognised any of those standing around.
“The next day I heard about the accident and who was involved, and I called police to report it,” said the witness. “As a Greek it was insulting to hear all the talk that it had been faked.”
A traffic police investigator, Epaminondas Bouras, testified that it is impossible to know whether the two staged a crash to miss a drug test.
He said that “God knows” whether it was a motorcycle accident, as the runners claim.
Bouras told the court that the motorcycle had been going at about 12 miles an hour when it crashed in a southern Athens suburb.
“I can’t say with certainty whether it was an accident or not,” he said.
The President of the Greek Athletics Federation (SEGAS), Mr Vasilios Sevastis who was the first to visit the two athletes in the hospital that evening testified on the first day of the trial two Fridays ago.
“There was panic. I saw Kenteris lying on a stretcher. He was wearing a neck brace, his clothes were torn and he was in shock. After some time, I saw Thanou. She was lying on a stretcher having returned from her examination,” he said.
Mr Sevastis also spoke of the immediate pressure applied by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to remove the athletes from the Games, suggesting the IOC itself was under immense pressure from the US team, as well as others, like Sweden and Australia, who had threatened to leave if the athletes were allowed to compete.
He said that the issue of foul play and a staged accident had not crossed his mind that evening, adding that the athletes could have been drug tested at the KAT, and in fact had asked to be tested. The KAT was an Olympic accredited hospital, he said.
Instead, he said, he received a call from then vice-president of the IOC, Mr Lambis Nikolaou, who asked that Mr Sevastis mediate with the athletes so that they surrender their accreditation cards “for the good of all”.
Neither Kenteris nor Thanou were present in court while the duo’s former coach Christos Tzekos, who is charged with supplying, importing and possessing a banned substance, did appear before magistrates.
“I am innocent,” said Tzekos. “All I wish for is for this trial to conclude and prove my innocence.”
