Two Are Removed From Greek Team

Two American baseball players who capitalized on their Greek heritage to play in the Olympics were thrown off the Athens team Monday after testing positive for banned substances.

A.J. Brack, a pitcher who last played in the U.S. in the Northeast League two years ago, tested positive for the steroid stanozolol from a sample taken Thursday. Alternate Derek Nicholson of Redondo Beach, who played center field for the Detroit Tigers’ triple-A Toledo team, tested positive for diuretics.

“That we are talking about doping is very sad,” said Yiannis Papadoyiannakis, head of the Greek team.

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Sprinter Torri Edwards, who faces a two-year ban after testing positive for the banned stimulant nikethamide, will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if an American Arbitration Assn. panel issues the ban, as is expected.

Edwards, a USC alum, said she inadvertently ingested the banned substance in sugar pills that had been supplied by her physiotherapist to boost her energy at a meet in Martinique in April. The arbitration panel had said there might be exceptional circumstances in her case, but a review board of the International Assn. of Athletics Federations did not agree and sent the case back to U.S. officials.

Edwards’ coach, John Smith, said he was glad to see Edwards fight the sanction.

“I said, ‘We’re not going down like this,’ ” he told reporters at the U.S. track team’s training camp on the Greek island of Crete.

Edwards finished second in the 100-meter dash and third in the 200 at the U.S. Olympic trials last month at Sacramento. She retained both spots on the roster submitted by USA Track and Field this week.

“If she’s suspended, she would be replaced,” said Jill Geer, a spokeswoman for USATF.

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It’s still early, but members of the U.S. Greco-Roman wrestling team are pleased with what they’ve seen of Athens organizers’ efforts -- especially because the wrestlers had reason to wonder whether everything would come together on time.

“I was here in 2001, and at the time, to be honest, I didn’t think they’d be ready,” said Jim Gruenwald, who competes at 60 kilograms (132 pounds). “Then I kept hearing things in the media that things weren’t going to be ready, that it didn’t look good.

“But then you get here. They’re fine. I was in the [athletes’] village [Sunday], and the cafeteria is unbelievable. At least they got food ready for us.”

Dennis Hall of Plover, Wis., a 1996 Olympic silver medalist, was also struck by the changes in Athens over the last few years.

“I was pretty impressed with the way Athens is set up and ready for the Games,” Hall said. “I came over in 1999, and traffic was real bad. Traffic has been great, and security is not a concern.”

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U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers won three medals in eight weight classes at the 2000 Sydney Games. There are only seven weight classes at Athens, and the U.S. qualified in six.

Steve Fraser, the U.S. national Greco-Roman coach, said U.S. athletes could win six medals and that the team’s goal was “four medals and place everybody in the top 10. If we do that, we should win the unofficial team title. There’s no official team title, but everybody keeps track.”

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She tore cartilage in her right knee Friday and had arthroscopic surgery Sunday, but Jana Pittman of Australia, world 400-meter hurdles champion, might compete in her event at Athens. Lynne Bates, the deputy chief of mission for the Australian team, said Pittman was released from a London hospital and would rehab her knee at the team’s training camp in Italy.

“It is 10 days until we have to put in the final entry, and every day counts,” Bates said. “Day by day, we’ll see how it goes.”

The first round of the 400-meter hurdles is scheduled Aug. 21. The final will be run Aug. 25.

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In tennis, Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina will replace the injured Guillermo Coria to play doubles with David Nalbandian. Zabaleta had previously replaced Coria in the men’s singles draw after Coria injured his shoulder.

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Australian gymnast Danielle Kelly tore a calf muscle during training and was replaced by Karen Nguyen. Australia won a team bronze medal at last year’s World Championships.

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As relatives tell it, it was the stuff of Greek tragedy: A love-struck young man threw himself off his balcony Monday, two days after a quarrel prompted his girlfriend -- a member of Greece’s Olympic judo team -- to jump from the same spot.

“He had very intense feelings about the girl. He was very much in love,” said Nikos Drakopoulos, who lives across the hall from the couple. “He could not see himself living if she was gone.”

Giorgos Chrisostomides, 24, was on life support at an Athens hospital with injuries to his head and back.

His high school sweetheart, 20-year-old judo champion Eleni Ioannou, was at another hospital in critical condition with multiple fractures to her head and body.

Chrisostomides’ grandmother took him to see a therapist Monday morning, and he was to return today, relatives said.

But back home, they said, as Chrisostomides was having lunch with his grandmother, he suddenly stood and bolted for the balcony.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.