Greek sprinter¹ Katerina Thanou was declared ineligible² for the Beijing Games on Sunday by the International Olympic Committee.

The decision was expected and is another sign of the IOC's renewed efforts to clamp down on cheaters. Thanou won't appeal the decision, her lawyer, Nikos Kollias, told The Associated Press.

IOC spokesperson Giselle Davies said the 15-member executive board's unanimous vote was intended to "to send a firm signal of the IOC's moral consideration that this case has brought the Olympic movement very much into disrepute."

Thanou and teammate Kostas Kenteris missed their third no-advance-notice drug test on the eve of the 2004 Athens Games. The duo claimed they had a scooter accident on their way back to the athletes village to be tested. Missing three tests results in an automatic two-year ban.

Thanou has served that ban, but the IOC declared in 2004 that it reserved the right to decide her eligibility³ because of the questionable⁴ circumstances surrounding the scooter accident. The Greeks' biggest medals hopes were charged with staging the crash and providing authorities with false information. The start of their trial has been repeatedly postponed⁵ and is expected to take place in early 2009.

"There was a whole string of events that took place in this sorry tale," Davies said. "They really resulted in what the IOC sees as a scandalous saga⁶.

Thanou is waiting to hear the IOC's decision on reallocating Marion Jones' medals from the 2000 Olympics. She was second behind Jones in the 100 meters. The IOC has said it is awaiting news from the BALCO investigation⁷ before deciding how to redistribution her five medals and a gold medal won by the US men's 4x400 relay.

国际奥委会于周日宣布取消希腊短跑运动员卡特里娜•萨努参加北京奥运会的资格。

这个决定是意料之中的，同时也再次体现国际奥委会加大力度严惩作弊运动员的决心。

国际奥委会发言人吉赛拉•戴维斯说，执行理事会的15个成员一致投票做出这个决定，这体现了“国际奥委会在道德评判方面的严厉态度，这种事件已经严重损害了奥林匹克运动的名誉。”

萨努和队友柯斯塔斯•肯特里斯在2004年雅典奥运会前夕缺席第三次随机药检。这两人声称他们在赶回奥运村接受药检途中摩托车出了意外。缺席三次药检的结果是自动禁赛两年。

萨努接受了禁赛处罚，不过国际奥委会在2004年表示因对摩托车车祸事件有质疑而保留对其参赛资格认定的权力。这位希腊最有可能夺得奖牌的运动员后来因为制造车祸事件以及提供虚假信息而被起诉。不过，该案件的审理被一推再推， 2009年初有望开庭审理。

戴维斯说：“这起事件一波三折，最后真的演变成了国际奥委会所看到的丑闻。”

萨努目前正在等待国际奥委会对2000年奥运会上玛利安•琼斯所获奖牌重新分配的决议。当时的100米短跑中，她在琼斯之后，位列第二。国际奥委会表示要在得到海湾实验室合作公司的调查结果之后才能决定如何重新分配那五块奖牌以及另一块被美国摘走的男子4x400米接力金牌。