Greek sprinters Kostas Kederis and Katerina Thanou will be free to compete following the Olympics even though the IAAF today launched an inquiry into their missed drug test.
Kederis and Thanou withdrew from the Athens Games last Wednesday to avoid being thrown out by the International Olympic Committee after they failed to submit to a drugs test at the Games village on the eve of the competition.
They were then involved in a motorcycle incident. The two sprinters have denied any wrongdoing, and their lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said of the latest events: "We have nothing to fear."
IAAF spokesman Nick Davies told a news conference on Thursday: "The athletes are not suspended now, they are eligible to compete." Davies said an IAAF council meeting had agreed that its Doping Review Board would start an immediate investigation into the pair, and until this reaches a conclusion the controversial sprinters will be able to compete on the international scene.
"The purpose of the inquiry is to establish whether sufficient evidence exists to charge any person with a doping violation," an IAAF statement said. "If such evidence exists, disciplinary proceedings will be instituted."
Davies said if the Doping Review Board found such evidence it would inform the Greek federation which would then conduct its own inquiry. If the two bodies then disagreed the case would be referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
"The process starts immediately. It could take weeks, it could take months but it's a number one priority," Davies said. "There is a council meeting at the beginning of December. I think it will be concluded by then."
Under IAAF rules, put into effect last March, athletes who miss three doping tests in an 18-month period face a one-year suspension. Refusal to attend a doping test leads to an automatic two-year suspension.
Kederis and Thanou have been involved in missed tests twice already in the last year, in Tel Aviv on July 27th and 28th and Chicago on August 10th and 11th, before the scheduled test in the Olympic village on August 12th.
The IAAF has already met IOC and Greek authorities to address the case and bring together evidence. "We have to know if the alleged missed cases are missed cases," Davies said. The Doping Review Board will also examine the influence of the pair's coach Christos Tzekos. "Under IAAF rules, a coach can also be sanctioned for a doping offence," Davies said.
The Doping Review Board will comprise IAAF president Lamine Diack, senior vice-president and IOC medical commission head Arne Ljungqvist, and council member Bob Hersh, a U.S. lawyer.
This latest announcement follows developments yesterday when the two athletes had their medical records taken from Athens' KAT trauma hospital by Greek prosecutors.
