Controversial Greek Sprinters Withdraw from Olympics

By Roger Wilkison
Greece's two top track and field stars have pulled out of the Athens Olympics after apologizing to their embarrassed nation for a scandal that arose after they missed drug tests next week.
Kostas Kenteris, the reigning¹ Olympic 200-meter champion and his training partner, Katerina Thanou, who won silver in the women's 100-meters at the last Olympics in Sydney, were Greece's biggest hopefuls for track and field gold in Athens.
But both of them walked out on the Athens Games moments after appearing before an International Olympic Committee disciplinary hearing. The IOC was expected to have banned them from competing, but spokeswoman Giselle Davies says it will take no action against the two sprinters because they had abandoned the tournament.
"The athletes' unequivocal surrender this morning of their accreditation² means that the IOC's sanction of expulsion from the Games becomes a moot³ point," she said.
Kenteris and Thanou have been under suspicion since last Thursday when they missed a drug test at the Olympic village. Hours later, they checked into a hospital where they told doctors they had been involved in a motorbike accident. But there were no witnesses to the crash, and it is still unclear how they got to the hospital.
The Greek news media have been demanding clear answers, and the two former idols⁴, now fallen heroes, are being blamed for casting a cloud over the opening ceremonies last Friday and tarnishing⁵ Greek honor.
Kenteris told reporters why he had decided⁶ to pull out of the Games. He said that a sense of responsibility and respect for the national interest motivated his decision.
But he said he was never notified that he had to show up at the drug test last Thursday. And he insisted that he has never used banned substances.
Thanou said she, too, would not compete. And she apologized to her fellow Greeks for not being able to take part in the Games, which have returned to the country of their birth for the first time in more than a century.
Roger Wilkison, VOA news, Athens.
注释：
scandal 丑闻
embarrassed 尴尬的
reigning 卫冕的
silver 银牌
sprinter 赛跑选手
tournament 比赛
unequivocal 明确的
expulsion 开除
suspicion 猜疑
tarnish 玷污
notify 通报
show up 露面

1 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

2 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

3 moot   

v.提出；adj.未决议的；n.大会；辩论会

参考例句：

• The question mooted in the board meeting is still a moot point.那个在董事会上提出讨论的问题仍未决的。
• The oil versus nuclear equation is largely moot.石油和核能之间的关系还很有争议。

4 idols   

偶像( idol的名词复数 )； 受崇拜的人或物； 受到热爱和崇拜的人或物； 神像

参考例句：

• The genii will give evidence against those who have worshipped idols. 魔怪将提供证据来反对那些崇拜偶像的人。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• Teenagers are very sequacious and they often emulate the behavior of their idols. 青少年非常盲从，经常模仿他们的偶像的行为。

5 tarnishing   

（印花）白地沾色

参考例句：

• The causes of tarnishing gold and silver-plated connectors were studied respectively. 分别探讨了接插件镀金和镀银层变色的原因。
• Bright tin electrodeposits on copper wire are susceptible to tarnishing. 铜线材经光亮镀锡后易产生腐蚀变色。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。