Athens: Greek sprinter Costas Kenteris told a magistrate on Wednesday he was innocent of charges that he deliberately missed a doping test on the eve of the Athens Olympics and staged a motorcycle accident to avoid being tested.

Kenteris, fellow sprinter Katerina Thanou and their coach at the time, Christos Tzekos, face charges of avoiding three doping tests including the one in Athens in August 2004 and faking the accident that put the two athletes in hospital for four days.

“This country gave birth to the Olympics but also to this nightmare,” Kenteris’s lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told reporters after the testimony. “There is not the slightest evidence that he is guilty of the charges laid against him.”

A court source said that the former Olympic champion, who appeared in court wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, had repeated his claim of innocence. “He calmly repeated to the magistrate that he is innocent and has done nothing wrong,” the source said. (Reuters)