Greek Duo Cleared of Drug Charges

In another bizarre twist to a bizarre story, the two Greek athletes that skipped town on the eve of the Olympic Games, presumably to avoid a drug test, have now been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Greek Athletics Federation, an independent tribunal.

[The two athletes] had been charged with avoiding drug tests in Tel Aviv, Chicago and Athens and failing to notify anti-doping officials of their whereabouts before the Olympics.

They withdrew from the Olympics after missing a drugs test at the Olympic Village on 12 August. The pair then spent four days in a hospital, claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash.

It was the International Olympic Committee's demand that the IAAF investigate the affair that led to the hearing of the Greek tribunal.

The head of that tribunal, Kostas Panagopoulos, said it had not been proven that the athletes refused to take the test in Athens.

The international track and field governing body (IAAF) has the option of contesting the decision at the Court of Arbitration of Sport.

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