Dimitris ChondrokoukisATHENS – Greece's world indoor high jump champion Dimitris Chondrokoukis has pulled out of the London Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance, the athlete's father said Thursday. “Dimitris will not take part in the Olympic Games, leaving unfulfilled a dream of a lifetime," his father and coach Kyriakos Chondrokoukis said in a statement reported by Greek media and confirmed by a Greek athletics federation official. The 24-year-old high jumper, who was one of Greece's best hopes for a medal in track and field, will seek a retest after testing positive for banned anabolic steroid Stanozolol, his father said. “I will fight – we will fight – to respond and see exactly what happened," the statement said. “Not only for us as a family, but for the sports fans who have embraced Dimitris with so much love." Greek Olympic Committee president Spyros Kapralos said: “We will not tolerate doping." “We want to get many medals, however we want clean medals," he said. Chondrokoukis's exit is the second blow for Greece's Olympics hopes in as many days, after triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou was withdrawn from the London team Wednesday for a tweet on Africans in Greece that was slammed as racist. Chondrokoukis won gold at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul with a personal best of 2.33 meters. His personal best outdoors is 2.32. IOC spokesman Mark Adams said he had read media reports about the case, but said it was an IAAF matter. “If we are catching people with pre-games testing, it can only be a good thing. We applaud it," Adams said. “The more drug cheats we can catch the better." Stanozolol mimics testosterone, boosts muscle An old, relatively cheap and easy-to-detect drug, stanozolol, like other anabolic steroids, is designed to mimic the effects of the male sex hormones testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Higher levels of testosterone cause anabolic changes in the body, including an increased rate of protein synthesis. This in turn can boost muscle growth and an ability to recover more quickly between bouts of strenuous exercise. Experts say power and strength sports are the events where potential cheats are most likely to use such steroids. Stanozolol, first developed in the 1960s, is now available as a cheap generic, often sold under the brand names Winstrol and Tenabol. It can be taken either as a liquid suspension, as a tablet, or in injectable form. Its legitimate uses include the treatment of anaemia and a condition called hereditary angioedema, which can cause sudden attacks of swelling in the hands, arms, feet, face or airways. Fellow Greek Leonidas Sampanis, a weightlifter, tested positive for the same drug during the Athens Olympics in 2004, as did Russian weightlifter Albina Khomic. — Agencies
