Former Olympic champion Kostas Kenteris has been given an extension to prepare for a court hearing on charges relating to a missed drugs test.
Kenteris, who won the 200 metres at the Olympics in Sydney, was due to appear before a prosecutor in Athens yesterday on charges he faked a motorcycle accident to evade a dope test on the eve of the Games in the Greek capital last summer.
However, the hearing was delayed and no new date has been set as yet.
The appearance by Kenteris marks the final stage of the probe into the events of August 12 when the 31-year-old, along with Olympic silver medallist Katerina Thanou, missed the dope test after leaving the Olympic village the day before the opening ceremony.
Their whereabouts could not be determined until much later in the evening - bywhich time the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials had departed.
Athletes are required to inform their national federations of their
whereabouts if they leave their usual home address, so anti-doping officials can contact them if they wish to administer out-of-competition tests.
Events took a further twist when they were involved in a mysterious motorbike accident which, they claimed, happened as they were returning to the Olympic village.
A criminal probe was then launched and the pair were charged in November by the Greek chief prosecutor with avoiding a drugs test and then faking a motorcycle accident.
Charges were also brought against the pair's coach Christos Tsekos, five people who claim to have witnessed the crash and seven doctors who claimed the athletes required treatment for their alleged injuries.
However, in March the Greek amateur athletics federation (SEGAS) cleared Kenteris and Thanou of deliberately avoiding three tests in the run-up to the Games, blaming Tsekos for the no-shows and handing him a four-year ban.
Thanou is also due to testify separately from Kenteris.
