Was hammer thrower sick or not?

THE CYPRUS Amateur Athletic Association (KOEAS) yesterday insisted that hammer throw Skevi Theodorou was indeed sick and seen by a doctor during the Olympics.

Theodorou herself on Thursday went back on claims that she had been sick and suffering from a fever during the competition and issued an apology to the Cyprus Olympic Committee for her “unfortunate comments”.

She added that she only made the comments after being pressurised to do so by a certain individual from Cyprus.

Antonis Georgallides of KOEAS yesterday said that Theodorou has since named the individual and that the matter would be investigated fully upon the Cyprus mission’s return from Beijing.

“I have already looked into why she said what she did live on television and I have told her that what she did was wrong and encouraged her to apologise.”

Georgallides stated that Theodorou had been suffering from a slight cold and was seen by a doctor who prescribed analgesics. He also said that she had competed the previous evening while having a temperature.

“This is the reality,” he added.

Theodorou failed to make it to the hammer final, finishing, 44th out of 50 athletes in qualifying. Her best attempt was 61 metres, well short of the 68.05m she threw to qualify for the Games.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.