19 August 2004	Thursday	02 Rajab 1425

ATHENS, Aug 18: Greece's two top athletes pulled out of the Athens Olympics on Wednesday and apologised to the Greek people for a scandal over missed dope tests that has tarnished the Games' return to their birthplace.

"With a sense of responsibility and national interest I am retiring from the Olympic Games," Olympic 200 metres champion Costas Kenteris said as he emerged from an Athens hotel after an International Olympic Committee disciplinary hearing.

He and training partner Katerina Thanou protested their innocence; but their lawyer said they hoped that by accepting their fate after days of silence and postponed hearings they could spare the Games hosts further embarrassment.

The affair is the biggest to hit the Games since the Ben Johnson scandal at Seoul in 1988. "I want to apologise to the Greek people that I will not be at the Games," said Thanou, the 100 silver medallist in Sydney.

Fellow Greeks said they were disappointed, even ashamed, but also glad the pair had finally brought the affair to a close. "My country has waited 108 years for the Games to come home," said Kenteris, 31, acknowledging the national scandal that has cast a shadow over the impressive international show that Athens has put on for the 16-day festival.

"Maybe even the medals they have won in the past are tainted by drugs," said waiter Tanagiotis Dimotulos. "I'm very disappointed because they put their athletic ambitions ahead of the ideals of the Olympics and sport in general."

At a spot steeped in the myths of the Greek gods as much as the ancient traditions of sport, business Hiristos Papadopoulos felt their runners' removal was in the natural order of things: "Justice has been served," he said. "It looks like they did something wrong because there is a Greek saying that a clean sky is not afraid of thunder." -Reuters