Ekaterini Thanou

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Medal record
Women's athletics
Olympic Games
Silver 2000 Sydney 100 m
World Championships
Bronze 1999 Sevilla 100 m
Bronze 2001 Edmonton 100 m
European Championships
Bronze 1998 Budapest 100 m
Gold 2002 Munich 100 m

Ekaterini Thanou (Greek: Αικατερίνη Θάνου; born February 1, 1975) is a Greek sprinter.

Thanou won the silver medal in the women's 100 m at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. In 2002 she won the gold medal at the European Championships in Munich.

[edit] Suspension

For the 2004 Summer Olympics, Thanou was one of the main hopes of the home crowd for winning an athletics medal. However, on the day prior to the opening ceremony, Thanou and her training partner Konstantinos Kenteris failed to attend a drugs test, and later the same night were hospitalised, claiming they had both been injured in a motorcycle accident. In the ensuing doping scandal, Kenteris and Thanou announced their withdrawal from the Games on August 18, after a hearing before the Disciplinary Commission of the IOC. An official Greek investigation into their alleged accident, ruled that it had been staged. Their coach Christos Tsekos was also suspended and was later caught with large amounts of steroids and other drugs in his possession.

The missed test in Athens was the duo's third violation of the summer and they were consequently suspended by the IAAF on 22 December 2004. After a long legal battle, on 26 June 2006 before the Court of Arbitration for Sport the Greek athletes, accepted anti-doping rule violations of 3 missed tests between 27 July and 12 August 2004 (in breach of Rule 32.2(d)) and a failure to provide a urine and a blood sample on 12 August 2004 (in breach of Rule 32.2(c)). They were re-eligible to compete since 22 December 2006.

On her return to international competition at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, she was roundly booed by the knowledgeable crowds before flopping to 6th in the final.

[edit] Personal bests

Date Event Venue Time
August 22, 1999 100 m Sevilla, Spain 10.83
August 20, 1994 200 m Kalamata, Greece 24.46

[edit] Achievements

Year Tournament Venue Result Event
1995 World University Games Fukuoka, Japan 2nd 100 m
1997 World University Games Sicily, Italy 1st 100 m
1998 European Championships Budapest, Hungary 3rd 100 m
1998 European Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 4th 60 m
1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 1st 60 m
1999 IAAF World Championships Sevilla, Spain 3rd 100 m
2000 European Indoor Championships Ghent, Belgium 1st 60 m
2000 2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 2nd 100 m
2001 IAAF World Championships Edmonton, Alberta 3rd 100 m
2002 European Championships Munich, Germany 1st 100 m
2003 IAAF World Championships Paris, France 4th 100 m
2004 Greece National Championships Greece 1st 100 m
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, Great Britain 6th 60 m