AN ATHENS appeals court acquits sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterini Thanou of staging a motorcycle accident to avoid a doping test before the 2004 Olympics. Their coach, Christos Tzekos, received a suspended sentence for possessing banned substances.
GREECE tops medals table at the 2011 European Rowing Championships at Plovdiv, Bulgaria, winning three gold medals, in the lightweight women’s double, the men’s four (Stergios Papachristos, Ioannis Tsilis, Georgios Tziallas and Ioannis Christou) and the men’s pair (Nikolaos and Apostolos Gkountoulas) as well as silver in the lightweight men’s double sculls (Eleftherios Konsolas and Panagiotis Magdanis). Alexandra Tsiavou won her fifth European gold in a row in the lightweight women’s double sculls. This follows good medal placement at the World Championships a few weeks earlier, where several Greek crews clinched spots in the 2012 Olympics.
PANATHINAIKOS president Dimitris Gontikas confirms press reports that Prince Sultan bin Naser Al-Farhan Al-Saud, owner of one of the biggest construction firms in Saudi Arabia, has made an official proposal to acquire a majority stake in the football club.
BUT THE FOOTBALL season starts with two teams short after the Professional Sports Commission refuses a license for Olympiakos Volou and Kavala for not breaking ties with owners implicated in a matchfixing scandal.
GREECE finishes in sixth place at Eurobasket 2011 after losing 73-69 to hosts Lithuania. Despite the defeat, coach Ilias Zouros should be pleased with his team’s performance. Missing eight players, Greece had a number of inexperienced players participating in the European Championships. The placement means Greece misses automatic qualification for the 2012 Olympics and must win its berth in a pre-Olympic tournament.
GREEK high jump champion Dimitris Chondrokoukis brings home the gold medal from the Weltklasse IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich after clearing 2.32 meters on his second attempt. Chondrokoukis placed fifth at the world championships a few days before.