Doping Crisis in Greek team?
Wednesday, September 13. Stamatis Lenis not only saw his national triple jump record fly off his hands (ot legs?) after the Turkish Federation announced earlier this month that his jump at 17, 20 m. in Instanbul was achieved with a tailwind of 2.1, but was also arrested by Australian police in Sydney for importing banned substances in the country. The funny thing is that in his luggage there was found the drug "Exitain" which is not in the list of banned drugs of IOC or IAAF, but it is one of the drugs prohibited in Australia... Australian officials wish that Lenis should leave Sydney at once, however Greek Federation claims that this is not fare and they are sure that not only the athlete will stay, but will also compete without any further problems. Anyway, the decision is to be taken tommorow by the Doping Committee of the IOC. We' ll just have to wait and see. Meanwhile, Iva Prandzheva who lost her medal in Atlanta after testing positive for anabolics, was unlucky enough to miss the chance to claim it back. Unlucky or just clumpsy? She was caught with nandrolone by the Bulgarian Federation... If this is approved also by the IAAF, that means that Prandzheva will not be allowed to compete any more!

Are new drug tests really effective?
Monday, September 11. A lot of discussion has been made lately on the new drug tests that will be used in Sydney. Officials claim that the new blood tests will be able to trace banned substances that the urine tests could not, such as Human Growth Hormone (HGH) and Erythropetein (EPO). However, it seems that the IOC, having to choose between two different types of blood tests, chose the one that would harm less the status quo of modern sport. As we all know HGH and EPO are the most common banned substances nowadays, more effective than the usual steroids been used for so many years in sports. So, the IOC could not close its eyes and deny the use of blood tests that can detect those two substances. However, the IOC seems to just try to show that it cares for the athletes and tries to do something on the war against drugs. It chose the test that traces drugs taken within the last 3 days. This means that no clever athlete will be ever caught by those tests, especially with substances like EPO and HGH that are most effective after a period of 1 or 2 weeks! The IOC could have easily chosen the other test proposed, known as the "off test" as it can trace the use of substances many days before the blood is taken from the athlete. It prefered not, leaving all of us with many questions...

C.J. Hunter off the Olympics
Monday, September 11. The rumours of C.J. Hunter's withdrawal from Sydney were confirmed today. The Shot Put World Champion suffers from knee problems and it will be impossible for him to compete at the Olympic Games. His name adds another gap to the U.S. team afer Regina Jacobs and (most probably) Allen Johnson. Also, the Kenyan Association has confirmed the withdrawal of Konchellah at the 800 m. and Rotich at the 1500 m., who will be replaced by Yampoy and Chirchir.

Five days to go and temperatures still stay low
Saturday, September 9. The temperature today in Sydney is at 13 C degrees (56f) and it is not only the cold, but also flu that affects many athletes! Copying from Reuters: The Olympic Games are on a collision course with a Sydney influenza epidemic, and athletes and spectators have been warned they should be vaccinated before they arrive. Alan Hampson, deputy director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Influenza in Melbourne, said Olympic fever may have become an unhealthy reality when the Games open on 15 September in Sydney. As nothing seems to be in the right order down under you can still visit a marvellous site for the Olympics, named "Silly 2000", to get in the mood! Meanwhile, the Bridge Olympics reach to the finals in Maastricht and you can check it out at the Greek Bridge Site.

Big names continue to cancel their travel to Sydney due to various reasons
Saturday, September 9. After Tatyana Kotova, who was injured in a car accident earlier this week and will not be able to make it to Sydney, Regina Jacobs and Allen Johnson are the other two top names whose presence in the Olympi Games is under serious doubt. Regina Jacobs has withdrawn from the Olympics because of a viral infection. U.S. women's team coach Karen Dennis confirmed Jacobs' withdrawal Saturday. "She has been plagued with a respiratory problem for the past three weeks," Dennis said. "She has been working with her medical team." Allen Johnson had a pulled hamstring at his race in Jokohama on Saturday. Johnson said that he felt tightness in his hamstring going over the first hurdle and knew that he had to stop after knocking over the third hurdle. ``I just wasn't ready. I should have stayed home,'' Johnson said. He said he was planning to receive as much treatment as possible and hoped to recover in time for the Olympics. ``I have had injuries before but never so close to a major meet,'' Johnson added.

The Greek athletics team arrive to Sydney tomorrow
Friday, September 8. The most of greek athletes are going to arrive tomorrow in Sydney, accompanied by warm hopes for the best ever country's presentation in Olympic Games. The team is expected to achieve enough participations in events' finals, while some athletes may be among the medallists of Sydney. The rise of greek athletics durring the last decade can be reflected in these Olympics, four years before the presentation of the Greek athletes in front of their own crowd in Athens. 

Ten Days to Go and weather problems persist in Sydney
Tuesday, September 5. With temperatures at 15 C and 10 days to go until the start of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Australian officials seem troubled while athletes from all around the world arrive in Australia and try to adopt to the conditions. Will weather play an important role in these Games? It may not affect sports as Basketball, Swimming or Shooting, however it may prove fatal for the Track and Field athletes who scope in high level performances. The schedule for Athletics starts at September 23rd, so everybody hopes for better conditions as time goes on and Australia enters spring. We'll just have to see.

Kotova's coach laughs at Jones' long jump technique and Australians make this a first page article!
Tuesday, September 5. OK, she may not have the best technique, however she is still a 7 meter jumper. Tatyana Kotova's coach, Vladimir Kudryavtsev says Marion Jones jumps like a junior. Kotova is her rival, or rather, she is the big favorite for Gold in Sydney. Her coach can say whatever he likes. We believe that there is no point in putting it on the front page of the Sydney 2000 Official Website. A Website without fantasy, full of advertisements and without any help for the navigator to go where he wishes... It's a pity that this site will be the number one alltime visited web site. we are sure they could do better than this. Back to the Kotova vs Jones subject: Reposting from Sydney 2000 site:
"Jones's jumping technique is at kindergarten level," Vladimir Kudryavtsev, coach of world indoor long jump champion Tatyana Kotova, was quoted as saying by Sport-Express newspaper. "You might just say she has no technique at all." Jones has been aiming at an unprecedented five gold medals in Sydney, where she plans to compete in the 100 and 200 metres, 4x100 and 4x400 metres relays as well as the long jump. Kotova has been the most impressive female jumper this year. Last week in Berlin Kotova beat several Olympic contenders to win her fifth Golden League meeting and share a jackpot of 50 kilograms of gold with four other athletes. "I'm not saying that Tatyana has an ideal technique but she uses her legs much better than Marion," Kudryavtsev said.