Greek sprinters admit to breaking doping laws

A line was finally drawn under two of the most damaging drug scandals in history last night. The Greek sprinters Kostas Kederis and Ekaterina Thanou accepted they had broken anti-doping rules and all the performances of Britain's Dwain Chambers during the period he has admitted he was under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs were erased from the record books, including the European 100 metres title he won four years ago.

The two affairs have hung like a big black cloud over the sport for a long time and the hope must be that they can finally be consigned to history and that athletics can try to move forward. Kederis and Thanou have agreed a deal with the International Association of Athletics Federations acknowledging they breached rules by missing three dope tests ahead of the 2004 Olympics. The admission will cast a shadow over what they achieved during their careers, including the Olympic gold medal won by Kederis in the 200 metres and the silver medal claimed by Thanou in the 100m at Sydney 2000.

The runners had been provisionally suspended by the world governing body on December 22, 2004, and will remain banned until the same date this year. Yesterday's move coincided with the date an appeal by Kederis and Thanou against their suspension had been scheduled to start at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

But in a surprise decision they withdrew their appeal and acknowledged they had broken rules in return for the IAAF dropping the two most serious charges against them - of evasion and refusal.

After missing drug tests on the eve of the Athens Games, both athletes spent four days in a hospital after claiming they were injured in a motorcycle crash. They both later withdrew from the games.

The Greek track and field federation cleared them in March 2005 of deliberately evading the tests, saying they had not been properly notified. But the IAAF appealed to CAS in a bid to ruling and impose minimum two-year bans.

On 15 May, CAS rejected the runners' bid to have the provisional suspensions lifted pending a final ruling. Matthieu Reeb, the CAS secretary-general, said the court had not expected the deal between the two parties. "It was a big surprise to us, totally unexpected," Reeb said. "In accordance with IAAF regulations, they will have to undergo some doping controls prior to competing again."

The IAAF will undoubtedly see the capitulation by the Greeks as a significant victory. "The parties are pleased in the interests of the sport that this long-running dispute has been brought to a conclusion," the world governing body said in a statement.

The performances of Chambers were always going to be erased after he admitted during an interview with the BBC that he had been using anabolic steroids supplied by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (Balco) for up to 18 months before he tested positive in August 2003.

The decision means he will lose his European 100m gold medal and the mark of 9.87 seconds he ran that year to equal Linford Christie's British record behind Tim Montgomery. The American's time of 9.78 was a world record but was erased last year after he was banned for four years for his involvement in the Balco scandal.

The decision also means Chambers and Britain team-mates Christian Malcolm, Marlon Devonish and Darren Campbell will lose the European gold medals they won in the 4x100m relay in 2002 and that Britain will lose the European Cup they won in Annecy that year. Chambers is due to make his return to international competition in this year's European Cup, which opens here tomorrow.