Athletics:Katerina Thanou has her sights on the outdoor season after finishing sixth in the European Indoor 60metres final, Birmingham in her first international event since returning from a two-year suspension.
It was the Greek sprinter's first major championship since the
world outdoors in 2003 and she clocked a time of 7.26 seconds
behind winner Kim Gevaert of Belgium on Sunday.
"This was just preparation for me going into the summer, so
it was good for me," said Thanou, who only started competing again
last month following the end of her suspension for doping
violations in December.
"I did something good today. I haven't run in a big
championship since the 2003 worlds in Paris, so it's a long way to
come back," the 2000 Olympic 100metres silver medallist said.
"It doesn't matter that I didn't get a medal. The point is
I'm enjoying competing. It's good to be back. The two-and-a-half
years I stayed out of it was difficult for me."
The 32-year-old was greeted by a small amount of booing from
some spectators before her semi-final on Saturday and again on
Sunday but said she had not heard it.
Thanou and her former training partner Costas Kenteris, the
2000 Olympic 200metres champion, were suspended after acknowledging
they had violated anti-doping rules by missing three drugs tests,
the last on the eve of the 2004 Athens Games.
The two athletes and their former coach Christos Tzekos still
face separate charges in the Greek courts for providing authorities
with false information regarding a motorcycle crash hours after
they missed the dope test at the athletes' village.
However, Thanou said she would not let this affect her
season.
"This is out of my mind for this year. I leave everything to
my lawyers. I'm an athlete and will concentrate on running because
that is my job."
She added that her popularity with the Greek public had
returned since she started racing again. Her only other competition
was at an indoor meeting in the northern Athens suburb of Peania.
"I'm more popular in Greece right now than I was before. I
came back and they have seen the old Katerina who is a high-level
athlete and they don't care what happened."