Athens - Incredulous Greeks said they were bitter and disgusted on Friday as their country's brightest Olympic medal hope, defending 200m champion Kostadinos Kenteris, became embroiled in a scandal that could see him barred from the Games.
"It is certainly not a pleasant incident," Greek government spokesperson Theodoros Roussopoulos told a news conference.
Kenteris, who was elevated to superstar status in Greece after winning the 200m Olympic title in 2000, and his training partner Ekaterini Thanou, 100m silver medallist at the same Games in Sydney, missed doping tests on Thursday, 24 hours before the opening ceremony of the Athens Games.
"It's a shame, all these unacceptable and facetious things coming to light about the doping control evasion," said the Coalition of the Left, Greece's fourth-largest party in a written statement, demanding that the two athletes' common coach Christos Tzekos, and Greek Olympic Committee, officials be sacked.
"Instead of trying to justify what's indefensible, they should go," the party said.
Hours after missing the dope test, both were involved in a mystery motorcycle accident as they allegedly rushed back to the Olympic Village to comply with the request to submit to tests.
They suffered cuts and bruises and were hospitalised and have since had their disciplinary case suspended until Monday where they could be kicked out of the Games.
"What accident are they talking about? It's just an alibi. He fell into a trap all by himself but he took down all of Greece with him," said 26-year-old Lukia Eutixia, one of a huge crowd that had gathered in central Athens to salute the passage of the Olympic flame.
Christos Parganas, 27, a civil servant decked out in Olympic cap, with a Greek flag in his hand, said: "This is a comic opera, a fairytale that ends badly with the prince dying at the end.
"It's bad for ticket sales. But we Greeks are romantics and we still believe in the Games. I've got tickets for swimming and hockey and I'm going to go."
Greek team officials said Kenteris and Thanou had missed the mandatory drugs tests called by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because they had returned to their homes to collect personal belongings to take to the Olympic Village and could not be contacted.
"It's impossible that they couldn't be found or informed about a doping test," said Michalis Kambouris, who runs a shipping company in the Athens port of Piraeus.
"This affair leaves a very bad taste and it went down very badly."
