Greek sprinters cleared of perjury

A Greek court on Tuesday cleared former sprint stars Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou of perjury in a trial stemming from one of the biggest scandals of the Athens 2004 Olympics, a justice source said. An appeals panel of three judges voted unanimously to drop charges against the athletes for lack of evidence, and also reduced a sentence against their coach Christos Tzekos for importing and trading banned sports substances. Tzekos' suspended sentence was reduced from 33 months to a year. Thanou, the 100m silver medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Costas Kenteris, the 200m gold medal winner, had been initially handed suspended 31-month sentences in May for falsely claiming that a motorcycle accident led them to miss a doping test on the eve of the 2004 Games. Both athletes, who are now retired, had also been accused of encouraging medical staff to issue false certificates on their alleged injuries from the accident. Kenteris and Thanou were kicked out of the Athens Games for missing the pre-competition doping test.