Ekaterini Thanou - Return From Suspension

Return From Suspension

On her return to international competition at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham, England, she was booed by the crowds before finishing sixth in the final.

Following the revelations about Marion Jones's use of steroids, Thanou, who finished 2nd behind Jones in the 100 m at Sydney 2000, was in line to be awarded the American's gold medal, but due to Thanou's own tainted record the IOC, after two years of deliberation, opted to punish Jones without rewarding Thanou. Jones' gold medal was withdrawn but was withheld by the IOC, Thanou remaining a silver medallist.

Thanou was provisionally selected by the Hellenic Olympic Committee to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. However, as she had not achieved the Olympic 'A' standard (11.32 seconds), if another Greek woman had achieved this, she would have been forced off of the team.

However, all of this became moot on 9 August 2008, when the executive board of the IOC decided to bar Thanou from competing under rule 23.2.1 of the Olympic charter. This rule allows the banning of athletes who are thought to be guilty of improper conduct or bringing the games into disrepute. Thanou claimed that she faced "intense pressure" to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics, four years after being involved in a major doping controversy at the Athens Games. The decision may lead to a messy legal battle. Thanou, who qualified for the Beijing Games, had threatened to sue Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, if she was denied permission to participate.