Athens – The trial of disgraced Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou finally began on Friday after being postponed for the past seven times.
At the 2004 Games in Athens, Kenteris and Thanou caused the biggest Olympic doping scandal since Ben Johnson was stripped of his 100-metre gold medal at the 1988 Seoul Games following a positive drugs test.
The two sprinters were accused of missing a doping test and staging a motorcycle accident to avoid being tested on the night of the 2004 opening ceremony.
Kenteris, who won a gold medal in the 200 metres at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Thanou, a silver Olympic medallist in the 100 metres at the Millennium Games, were Greece's biggest medal hopes for the Athens Games.
They both face misdemeanor charges of perjury over the motorcycle accident, along with 10 other people including their coach, doctors and alleged witnesses of the accident. If found guilty they face a penalty of up to two years in prison.
While Kenteris did not specifically mention his coach Christos Tzekos, who faces separate charges for providing authorities with false information on the motorcycle accident, he did admit to trusting the wrong people. – Sapa-dpa