Kenteris insists bike accident wasn't staged

Kostas Kenteris, Greece's disgraced former Olympic sprint champion, has broken his lengthy silence since the end of the Athens Games to deny faking a motorcycle crash to avoid a doping test.

At the start of a week when prosecutors are to decide whether to file charges against the 2000 Olympics 200metres champion and fellow sprinter Katerina Thanou, who won the 100m silver medal in Sydney, Kenteris hit out at the actions that forced him out of the 2004 Games.

The two sprinters are under investigation for allegedly staging the crash, obstructing a doping test and providing authorities with false information. Their coach Christos Tzekos, whose home they set off from on the bike, is under investigation for possession of illegal drugs.

But Kenteris now claims he was not informed in time that International Olympic Committee officials wanted to test him.

"It was irresponsible to get on the bike but I went crazy when I found out I had supposedly missed a doping test and I wanted to rush to the Olympic Village," he said. "I'd never been notified and suddenly people were saying I could be thrown out. The accident did occur."

Doctors at the hospital where the pair were taken are also under investigation as well as several people who said they witnessed the accident. A medical examiner who checked the athletes found Kenteris had significantly fewer injuries than stated in the hospital report while Thanou had no single visible injury.

"Why was I given only 60 minutes to appear when the doping code clearly states that I should be given 24 hours," Kenteris said.

Kenteris added he asked to be tested for banned substances in hospital after the crash.

"I told the hospital to call the IOC and have me tested on the spot but no one came."

The sprinters remained in hospital for a few days then voluntarily withdrew from the Games.