ATHLETICS: The former Olympic medallists Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou appeared before sport's highest court yesterday to contest possible two-year bans for missing drug tests on the eve of the Athens Games last year.

The case is being heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The hearing was expected to continue today.

The two sprinters caused the biggest doping scandal since Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, when they failed to turn up for a doping test before the Athens Games.

Still banned pending the CAS ruling, the sprinters were initially cleared of any wrongdoing when their case came before the Greek athletics federation (SEGAS) in March.

"The trial is already under way and the lawyers on both sides are braced for a bitter, bitter battle," a Greek source close to the procedures said. "The IAAF (the world governing body for athletics) has also brought in new lawyers at the last minute."

Kenteris and Thanou have said they did not avoid the test on August 12 inside the Olympic village and a subsequent alleged motorcycle accident that sent them to hospital for four days was not faked.

The IAAF, angered by the sprinters' acquittal in March, lodged an appeal, saying Kenteris, a 200-metre gold medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Thanou, who won silver in the 100 metres behind American sprint star Marion Jones at the same Games, should be banned for two years.

Their lawyer, Grigoris Ioannidis, said in an interview in June both sprinters would be vindicated at CAS.

"All of the evidence shows no guilt. The athletes are waiting for their vindication because the IAAF has no evidence to find them guilty," he said.

The sprinters face separate criminal charges in Greece for the bike crash and for allegedly avoiding the tests, while their coach at the time has been banned by SEGAS for four years for his involvement in the case.

The pair, favourites for a medal in their disciplines, voluntarily withdrew from the Athens Games, shocking Greeks who had snapped up all tickets for their races well over a year before the Olympics.