Greek tragedy as Halkia fails doping test

GREECE’S defending Olympic 400m hurdles champion Fania Halkia has tested positive for banned drugs.

Halkia, 29, is understood to have tested positive for a steroid after officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) visited a training venue in Tokyo last week.

An IOC spokeswoman said: “Fania Halkia failed a pre-competition test conducted in Japan by WADA during the period of the Games. It was an IOC test done on our behalf by WADA as it outside Beijing.

“A disciplinary commission will now convene to discuss the case and it will then go to the IOC’s executive board for a final decision.”

Halkia is thought to have left Beijing and returned to Greece after being informed of the positive finding.

The hurdler faced a barrage of questions in Athens after a startling improvement saw her come from being a virtual unknown to win gold.

“Why do people want to give a negative impression of sports?” Halkia said then. The latest positive test underlines Greece’s problem with drugs in sport — Halkia is the 15th Greek athlete in the last three months to fail a doping test.

The IOC’s executive board has also ruled sprinter Katerina Thanou ineligible for the Games.

The Sydney 100m silver medallist withdrew from Athens following a missed drugs test and was banned until December 2006. She qualified for Beijing but required IOC approval to compete in Beijing.

Meanwhile, on the track, Shelly-Ann Fraser led an unprecedented Jamaican clean sweep to claim gold in the women’s 100 metres. Fraser followed in the footsteps of compatriot Usain Bolt, storming clear to win in a time of 10.78.

Team-mates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart could not be separated after a lengthy study of a photo-finish and were both awarded silver medals in a time of 10.98.

Rafael Nadal will celebrate his rise to the top of the world today as the new Olympic champion after a 6-3 7-6 6-3 victory over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Elena Dementieva overcame a familiar attack of nerves to end Dinara Safina’s 15-match winning streak and triumph 3-6 7-5 6-3 in the women’s singles and Vera Zvonareva’s 6-0 7-5 bronze win over China’s Li Na ensured Russia a clean sweep.

Venus and Serena Williams teamed up to win the women’s doubles with a surprisingly easy 6-2 6-0 win over Spain’s Anabel Medina-Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Great Britain won a gold and two silvers as they took their overall medal total to six to finish as the top nation in the rowing.

Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter took gold in the lightweight men’s double sculls, while Britain took silver in the men’s eight and women’s quadruple sculls.

Britain also enjoyed more success in the cycling as Rebecca Romero become the first British woman to win medals in two different sports when she won gold in the women’s pursuit, beating fellow Briton Wendy Houvenaghel in the final.