a sample, were dropped. They have been eligible to compete since 22 December 2006. Return from suspension On her return to international competition at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England, she was booed by the crowds before finishing sixth in the final of 60 metres with 7.26. 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 Jones' gold medal was withdrawn but was withheld by the IOC, Thanou remaining a silver medallist.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. She had not achieved the Olympic 'A' standard (11.32 seconds), but as no other Greek woman had achieved this, she was selected as part 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. Thanou qualified for the Beijing Games, and although she had threatened to sue Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, she was finally denied permission to participate. Conviction and subsequent acquittal Thanou was tried in 2009 for making false statements to police, to avoid a doping test, on the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics. On May 9, 2011, Thanou and Kenteris were convicted of perjury and received suspended sentences of 31 months against which they immediately appealed. The judge declared that the "motor accident at the Olympic Games in reality had never taken place". On 6 September 2011, the Guardian newspaper reported that Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou had been acquitted by a Greek appeals court of faking a motorcycle crash after missing a drugs test. Personal bests International competitions See also List of doping cases in athletics Notes References External links Official website 1975 births Living people Greek female sprinters Olympic athletes of Greece Athletes (track and field)