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Updated at 3:09 a.m., Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Olympics: Dope-tainted sprinter on Greek team list for Beijing

By DEREK GATOPOULOS
Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece — Doping-tainted sprinter Katerina Thanou has been included on Greece's official team list for the Beijing Olympics, four years after she was an embarrassment to the host nation at the Athens Games.

The 33-year-old Thanou made Greece's provisional team list last week after finishing the 100 meters in 11.39 seconds at a Greek track meet. The Hellenic Olympic Committee said Tuesday that Thanou is on the official list of participants.

Thanou won the silver medal in the 100 at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but later served a two-year ban for missing a doping test before the 2004 Athens Games. The gold medalist in the 2000 race was Marion Jones, who later was stripped of her medal, but the IOC has not yet decided whether to award the gold to Thanou.

Thanou's lawyer, Nikos Kollias, said he expected the International Olympic Committee to give Thanou an accreditation for the Aug. 8-24 games.

"There are no legal grounds for preventing her from taking part in the Olympics," Kollias said Tuesday. "(Thanou) wants to take part ... I see no reason why this should not happen."

In 2004, an IOC disciplinary commission ruled that it must reconvene before Thanou can take part at any games.

"Any participation of Thanou ... at any further edition of the Olympic Games shall be subject to a new procedure in front of the IOC," the committee wrote at the time.

The IOC had no comment Tuesday on Thanou's possible participation, pending Wednesday's deadline for team submissions. The organization could discuss the issue at an executive board meeting Aug. 2-3 in Beijing.

The 2004 doping scandal involving Thanou and Greek sprinter Costas Kenteris was a major embarrassment for the organizers of the Athens Games.

The two missed a doping test on the eve of the games, later claiming they were involved in a motorcycle accident. They are still facing criminal charges.

Greece has since been troubled by a string of doping cases.

Last month, 11 Greek weightlifters were suspended for two years after testing positive for a banned steroid. Greece will send only four lifters to Beijing.

A Greek boxer was removed from the Olympic team list Tuesday after his failed drug test was announced.

Associated Press Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Switzerland, contributed to this report.