The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday warned drugs-tainted Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou she would face a disciplinary review to examine her eligibility to compete in the Beijing Olympics. Thanou, who was banned in 2004 for two years for anti-doping rule violations stemming from that year's Athens Olympics, said late on Wednesday she would race in Beijing after meeting qualifying standards. “If it is confirmed that she is on the list selected by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC), a disciplinary commission will meet in Beijing next week to discuss this,” IOC spokesperson Emmanuelle Moreau said. “We have informed the Hellenic Olympic Committee by letter this week (that) should it select Thanou we intend to initiate a new procedure.” The HOC, which unlike some other national committees does not have an Olympic lifetime ban for drugs offenders, confirmed on Thursday that Thanou was on their final list of athletes for the Aug. 8-24 Games. “She is on the list. I don't know if it was sent to organizers yesterday or will be sent today, but she is on this list,” an HOC official said. Thanou, who together with fellow sprinter and medals hope Costas Kenteris caused the biggest Olympic doping scandal in years when they missed a drugs test on the eve of the Athens Games, was forced to withdraw in disgrace and was then banned. She has been eligible to compete since Dec. 2006 but has raced only occasionally since then. Thanou, who won silver in the 100m at the Sydney 2000 Games but is now, at 33, well past her prime, achieved her Beijing qualifying time some 10 days at a meeting on the Greek island of Crete. The IOC had said in 2004 that as the two athletes surrendered their accreditations voluntarily their case was closed but the body retained the right to review their eligibility for future Games. Thanou's lawyer, Gregory Ioannidis, said she had every right to compete. Hardy tests positive Jessica Hardy, an American who qualified to swim the 50-meter freestyle and 100m breaststroke at the Beijing Olympics, tested positive for a banned substance, Swimming World magazine reported. The magazine's website said an unidentified coach not on the Olympic staff confirmed the positive test while NBC television's Olympic website reported that both “A” and “B” samples from Hardy have tested positive. Both organizations cited unnamed athletes as saying Hardy is no longer at the US swim team's training camp. Rezazadeh pulls out Iran double Olympic gold medallist Hossein Rezazadeh on Wednesday pulled out of the 2008 Games because he was not in good enough shape to defend his title, a weightlifting official said. “Mr. Rezazadeh had eight months of heavy training while having stomach problems,” Iranian weightlifting federation public relations, Mohammd Abdollahi said. Weighing more than 161 kg, Rezazadeh holds world records in snatch (213 kg), clean & jerk (263 kg) and total (472 kg).
