Greek Tragedy/French Farce?

Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have just been 'acquiited' by a Greek Court of faking a motorcycle accident to explain their failure to present themselves for drug testing just prior to the commencement of the 2004 Olympic Games in their own country. An appeal court ruled that there was no evidence that the 'accident had not happened'. The pair's suspended sentences of imprisonment were rescinded. Is that any vindication? Quite categorically no.
The pair had already missed 2 out of competition tests in 2004 before they failed to make themselves available for the eve of Games tests. They had managed to evade testers by the skin of their teeth and, some say, with the connivance of, or at least a blind eye turned, of their national association.
Much was at stake for the Greeks. Greece was one of the smallest countries, along with Finland in 1952, to have ever been awarded the Olympics. Prior to 2000 Greece had not had an Olympic Gold medallist on the track since the inaugural games in Athens in 1896.
Kenteris was a failed 400m runner. He became associated with Christos Tzekos a coach who himself had a checkered history. In 1997 he was banned for 2 years from acting as a coach after he had physically manhandled a drug testing official enabling a number of his athletesto be spirited away avoiding testing altogether. Within a relatively short period of working together Kenteris had gone from a complete nobody to the 1996 World Champion at 200m. The improvement in his performance was considered by many to be 'astonishing' and almost unprecedented. In 2000 Kenteris achieved national legend status by winning the Olympic gold at the Sydney Games. He broke the symbolic barrier of 20 seconds. It was one of the most surprising results of that Olympiad.
Thanou won the 100m silver medal in Sydney. She shared the same coach and was Kenteris' 'training partner'. Her result was equally surprising. Ironically she was beaten by Marion Jones, who later admitted doping, and was jailed for perjury. Thanou was never awarded the gold and bizarrely the IOC awarded the bronze medallist a joint silver with Thanou and upgraded 4th placed Merlene Ottey to bronze.
In 2002 suspicions were growing. Links  were uncovered between the infamous Balco Laboratory in the USA and 'Greek athletes'. The IAAF clearly suspected Kenteris and Thanou and began to target them. They managed to slip the net until the eve of their own Games.
In the event Kenteris and Thanou, in what can only be described as an ignominious departure, handed in their olympic accreditation, and withdrew from the Games, without appearing before the disciplinary tribunal. Their disgrace was complete. They never competed again. Their home Games was overshadowed.

Notwithstanding their latest pyrrhic victory, surely justice was done in 2004, although both athletes have managed to hang onto their Olympic medals from 2000. Nonetheless they now live in obscurity and are totally discredited, notwithstanding the protestations on their behalf of their lawyers.