schmiggens
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Registered: Apr 2003
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Five Weight Lifters Expelled From Games
THENS, Aug. 19 - Five more Olympic weight lifters have been suspended for failing drug tests, including two who were barred just before their competitions, the International Weightlifting Federation said Thursday.
The athletes tested positive for steroids in compulsory pre-Olympic drug tests of all 260 weight lifters.
The competitors expelled were Wafa Ammouri of Morocco, Zoltan Kecskes of Hungary, Viktor Chislean of Moldova, Pratima Kumari Na of India and Sule Sahbaz of Turkey.
The federation suspended Nan Aye Khine of Myanmar on Monday after failing a drug test following her fourth-place finish Saturday in the 48-kilogram, or 105-pound, class.
Failed drug tests have dogged weight lifting for years. Two Romanians were expelled before the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, and during those Games, four weight lifters failed tests and the Bulgarian team was stripped of three gold medals.
Eleven weight lifters from 10 countries, including a world-record holder from China, tested positive at the 2003 world championships in Vancouver. Then three Bulgarians were suspended this year before the Athens Games, including an Olympic champion, Galabin Boevski, who was barred for eight years.
"One would hope there would be no positive tests," said Sam Coffa, the International Weightlifting Federations technical director. "But the reality is this is the biggest sporting event on the planet and for sure you can't stop some idiot from doing a stupid thing.
"But the important thing is they are getting caught. We test every single athlete, and anyone who is caught is run out of the Games and out of the sport."
Ammouri and Kecskes were to lift Wednesday but were suspended just before their competitions.
Sahbaz was the most distinguished of the group. She won a European championship in 2002 and a bronze medal in the world championships last year in the 77-kilogram (170-pound) class after an Armenian competitor failed a drug test.
Handling the Heat
As some of the best swimmers in the world raced yesterday at the Olympic Aquatic Center in Athens, the stands were filled with shirtless men and bikini-clad women. People covered their heads with towels, flags, bandannas anything that would ward off the broiling rays. The stairwells were filled with fans desperate for a patch of shade as temperatures soared into the mid-90s.
"I'm about ready to dive into the pool on top of one of the swimmers," said Amy Tzagournis, 22, of Columbus, Ohio, who had stripped down to shorts and a bikini top. "I'm pretending I'm at the beach."
The high temperatures were more than an annoyance in some sports. Athletes worried that their performances would wither. Coaches broke out cooling vests, ice wraps even ice chairs, where tennis players and other athletes could dunk their arms in freezing water.
At the beach volleyball stadium yesterday, the Brazilian star Adriana Behar complained during a victory over Cuba with her partner, Shelda Bede, that the sand was burning her bare feet. But her request to have the sand hosed down was rejected by a Greek referee. (AP)
Rising Cost of the Games
Costs for the Athens Olympics are climbing again. They are expected to exceed $8.5 billion because of the huge security and overruns in the last-minute scramble to have competition sites ready in time.
Petros Doukas, the deputy finance minister, said the latest figure up from the original $5.6 billion projection and the $7.2 billion revision before the Games was driven by a desire to put on a first-class event.
"We did not cut corners not for security, not for equipment, not for the quality of venues and not for the comfort of our guests," Doukas said yesterday at the Athens Business Club, a forum created to attract post-Olympic investment.
Doukas said the costs were inflated by the $1.5 billion security for the first Summer Games since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a spurt in construction to ensure that everything was ready in time for the opening ceremony.
Some analysts predict the final price will climb to $12.5 billion and burden Greek taxpayers for at least a decade. (AP)
Inquiry Into Sprinters' Injuries
A prosecutor looking into the motorcycle accident involving the Greek sprinters Konstantinos Kenteris and Katerina Thanou wants to take a closer look at the injuries sustained by the athletes, a senior person in the prosecutors office told The Associated Press yesterday.
Haralambos Lakafosis, the prosecutor overseeing the investigation, wants to question some of the doctors at KAT hospital in Athens, the person said. The medical condition of the two athletes is considered a key part of the inquiry and could answer allegations that it may not have taken place or was staged.
The wreck was reported on the night of Aug. 12, hours after Kenteris and Thanou missed a drug test at the Olympic Village. They were hospitalized with cuts and bruises, which prolonged an International Olympic Committee investigation into whether they had evaded the test.
Both withdrew from the Games on Wednesday.
A statement issued by the hospital last Friday said Kenteris had cranial trauma, whiplash and open wounds on his lower leg. Thanou sustained abdominal bruises, injuries to her right hip and a muscle injury to her right upper leg.
There have been reports that the statement does not match a report from Philipos Koutsaftis, the medical examiner who looked at the athletes Monday. The examiners report said that he noticed a few cuts on Kenteris's right leg and left elbow, and detected no significant injuries to Thanou four days after the accident, according to reports.
Kenteris's lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, denied allegations of any wrongdoing by the athletes. (AP)
Let's go with this freak show. It's outrageous.
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08-20-2004 04:03 AM
