A Kenyan boxer became the first Olympic cheat to be thrown out of Athens as the IOC's more rigorous testing policy began to bite last night. David Munyasia is facing a two-year ban from the sport after testing positive for the banned stimulant cathine, a derivative of the illegal recreational drug bangi, a leaf-like substance widely available in eastern Africa.

The 24-year-old offered no explanation for the finding from the test, which was carried out on August 6th.

The announcement came three days before the Games are officially due to open and just hours after IOC president Jacques Rogge predicted there would be more positive tests in Greece than the 12 recorded cases in Sydney four years ago.

Capriati withdraws

Former Olympic tennis champion Jennifer Capriati withdrew from the Athens Games on Tuesday, possibly signalling the end of her patchy Olympic career. The American, 28, did not give a reason for her withdrawal.

Capriati won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992 aged just 16 but did not compete in the next two Games as her career fell apart after she was caught shoplifting in 1993. The tennis tournament starts on Sunday.

Murphy courts Games

Ireland's participation in tennis at the Athens Olympics is a little-known fact. Castleknock man Fergus Murphy heads for the Olympic village tomorrow to officiate as an ATP chair umpire only two days after arriving home in Dublin from the North American tour.

Murphy is one of the ATP's 11 full-time chair umpires and this year he is well on the way to realising his ambition to work at the four Grand Slams as well as at the Olympics. He moves on to Flushing Meadows for the US Open immediately after Athens.

"It's nice this year to work at all the Grand Slams and the Olympics in the one year," he said. "It's something I have been aiming for since qualifying for the ATP group in 1999. You only get the chance of working at the five big events in the one year every four years."