China Olympics-Top 10 Medal Result as at 11.08.2008
Ekaterini (Katerina) Thanou (Greek: Αικατερίνη (Κατερίνα) Θάνου, IPA: [ekateˈrini ˈθanu], born February 1, 1975) is a Greek sprinter.
Thanou won the silver medal in the women's 100 m at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. With Marion Jones admitting to steroid use prior to and during the Sydney Olympics and having her gold medal withdrawn by the International Olympic Committee, Thanou may have her silver medal upgraded to gold despite her own controversial past.
In 2002 she won the 100 m gold medal at the European Championships in Munich.
Katerina Thanou to sue IOC - Beijing Olympics 2008
The IOC has clearly had enough of Thanou but the decision by the disciplinary commission is not the end of the affair.
The fear is that it could lead to the case that began on the eve of the last Games in Athens stretching on and even beyond the next Olympics in London.
The IOC ban, using rule 45.2 of the Olympic Charter, came on the grounds that Thanou had brought the Olympic movement into disrepute before the Athen Games.
That was when she and her training partner, Kostas Kenteris, missed a drug test and claimed later that they had been admitted to hospital in Athens after suffering injuries in a motorbike accident as they tried to return to the Olympic village.
Both athletes were disciplined and surrendered their accreditation.
In a scathing report that accompanied the decision, the IOC maintained that Thanou’s behaviour included "pretending she had a traffic accident” and "causing six medical doctors to hospitalise her for five days in order to avoid IOC controls”.
It resulted in, the IOC said, "a scandalous saga which cast a most negative shadow over the 2004 Olympic Games at the time of their opening ceremony.”
As a result, the IOC took up the option of looking again at her eligibility that it highlighted back in 2004 and refused to ratify the sprinter’s accreditation to compete in Beijing, even though she had qualified and has been training with the Greek team.
According to the IOC, the prejudice caused by Thanou had been "most serious”.
The 33 year-old Thanou, who later accepted a two-year ban for missing drug tests, was invited to address the disciplinary commission in person last week but declined.
She called her ban a "prearranged mockery of a decision.”
She added: "It is these totalitarian practices and decisions that bring the sporting spirit and the Olympic ideal that my country gave birth to into disrepute."
The Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has a presence in Beijing, was poised to hear an appeal from the sprinter but that will not happen.
Instead, her British-based lawyer, Dr Gregory Ioannidis said she will take legal action against the IOC at a time and place still to be decided.
Dr Ioannidis said: "The IOC decision is completely unfair. They do not respect the law.
"This is the wrong message to send to society. This decision has been taken with no legal basis and with no legal merits.”
In a statement, he added: “It is simply unfair and discriminatory to allow specific athletes with admission and bans for the use of prohibited substances to participate in the Olympics, but not Ms Thanou.”
Dr Ioannidis ended his statement by saying: "This situation must now come to an end and those responsible for such a decision must come to the understanding that there are rules and laws that need to be followed.
“We have accepted and respected decisions by courts and they have to do the same.
“The time has now come where the public opinion must discover all the facts and the whole truth.”
That is set to be in court and the saga will continue.
China Olympics-Top 10 Medal Result as at 11.08.2008
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