2004 Olympic women’s hurdles champion, Fani Halkia, has banned from athletics for 2 years after anti doping agencies tested her positive for a banned steroid Methyltrienolone. The ban was imposed by the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics. The sanction was given last week of November, however the effectivity of the sanction was backdated on August. This was when she tested positive days before the Beijing Olympics.

Fani halkia is on of the 19 Greek athletes to test positive for drugs. Halkia has denied this accusation and she insists she is the victim of sabotage. The International Olympic Committee rejected Halkia’s defense that she had never used the steroid and that her sample had been subject to “acts of tampering by third parties”.
 
The 29-year-old runner is not the only one facing suspension and criminal charges. Coach George Panagiotopoulos has been charged with supplying banned substances. Two other athletes who failed doping tests, sprinters Tassos Gousis and Dimitris Regas have also been charged by prosecutors for using methyltrienolone. They will face up to five years in prison on criminal charges in Greece.

As reported in HellenicAthletes.com, the Greek authorities launched a high-profile investigation into the doping violations because of doping issues. A draft law toughens up Greek doping laws.  Amendments include upgrading the penalty for the use of banned substances by athletes, or their promotion by coaches, to a felony and prison time, rather than a misdemeanor. In addition, only athletes who win medals at the Olympic Games, Paralympics, World Championships, European Championships or Mediterranean Games would receive benefits that include posts in the army or police force.

What makes the Methyltrienolone a banned substance? According to bodybuilding.com, methyltrienolone is structurally similar to trenbolone (Parabolan/Finaplix), a well-liked and powerful androgen that does not aromatize to estrogen. The difference is the attachment of a 17-alpha-methyl group for oral activity. So one could refer to methyltrienolone as oral trenbolone. It was first explored quite some time ago by Negma in France, the same company that marketed Parabolan (trenbolone). But the drug was never approved by the French government and was hence never produced. The reason was extreme hepatoxicity. Bill Roberts, the biochemist, once commented that taking methyltrienolone made taking insane doses of anadrol and Halotestin together look mild on the liver. While I was unable to find anything in the literature that describes the extent of the liver toxicity, it’s a generally accepted fact. That’s also why, to the dissapointment of many, you will never find a commercially marketed methyltrienolone product. Its only sold in bulk to labs and universities for research studies involving androgens.

Fani Halkia became popular in Greece when she set a new Olympic record of 52.77 seconds in the semi finals of 2004 olympics. With her suspension, she may also loose the benefits given by the Greek government to Olympic medalist.

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