Greek athlete fails test says spokesman

A Greek athlete has failed a drugs test, Greece officials said yesterday at the Athens Olympics which has been plagued by doping scandals.

"We won't be able to reveal the identity of the athlete until the results of the B sample are known," a team spokesman said.

A source close to the team, though, said the athlete concerned was weightlifter Leonidas Sampanis who won a bronze medal on Monday.

There have been a spate of positive tests announced at the Athens Games in weightlifting and media reports about the identity of the athlete were focused on the Greek weightlifting squad.

Since the 16-day Games opened yesterday week, competition has been overshadowed by a doping debacle which forced its two top athletes out of the Olympics.

On Wednesday, Greece's Olympic 200 metres champion Costas Kenteris and his training partner, 100 metres silver medallist Katerina Thanou, pulled out of the Games after missing dope tests on the eve of the opening ceremony.

The Greek government vowed yesterday to crack down on any athlete who tests positive to banned substances.

"For any athlete who has taken banned substances the reaction of the government will be very hard," a government source told Reuters.

"They will be stripped of any medals, awards or other privileges according to Greek laws."