ATHLETICS: That it lasted seven days was in the end perfectly fitting. The fall from grace of Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou, a tale it now seems of seven deadly sins. Ian O'Riordan in Athens reports

And like the Olympics themselves a tale brought home. It was the old Greek theologian Evagrius of Pontus who first drew up the list of human passions associated with personal demise.

For the International Olympic Committee (IOC) it was simply endgame - or the surrender, as they preferred to put it. Yesterday afternoon at the last of the daily Kenteris-Thanou press conferences they waved aloft the accreditations of the two Greek sprinters, and their coach Christos Tzekos, as if raising a victory flag. This was one battle in the war against doping they were determined to win.

Earlier yesterday the three central combatants had come to the Athens Hilton, the setting at last for their face-off with the IOC disciplinary commission. Rather than explain the reasons behind their alleged dodging of a drugs tests last Thursday, they simply handed in their accreditations. And then left the IOC to congratulate themselves.

Pride, it seems, had only just survived before the fall. Kenteris and Thanou held an excessive belief in their own ability, and importance, but rather than be told they couldn't compete in Athens, they decided they wouldn't.

"I am innocent of all charges," said Kenteris as he departed the hotel. "I have decided to withdraw from the Olympic Games, and am announcing the end of my cooperation with Christos Tzekos."

As Thanou left she claimed "with the love of the public" she hoped to continue her career. That mightn't be so straightforward.

What Kenteris and Thanou must have known was the IOC were on to them. Or at least tipped off that they were. The choice was to either get out or be thrown out.

Envy is what ultimately drives an athlete towards performance-enhancing drugs, the desire for the same status and ability of the very best. Kenteris never lost his desire to be the best, but it was only four years ago in Sydney, when he came from nowhere to win the Olympic 200 metre title at the age of 27, that it first came to fruition.

Gluttony is what the drug testers pray for, the athletes' inordinate desire to consume more than they require. And what it seems triggered Kenteris and Thanou into their course of action last Thursday.

At the press conference the IOC legal counsel Francois Carrard, an interminably cool Swiss lawyer, could hardly hide the smile on his face as he went through the details of the athletes' hearing.

"The athletes and their lawyer said that they felt they were innocent of the accusations against them," he said. "But that in the interest of the Games and their country, they felt they had to withdraw.

"But the inquiry itself has not come to an end, because we didn't get to the bottom of all the alleged violations. And in fairness the athletes have declared their innocence, which is their absolute right. So we will pass on the fight to the IAAF immediately, but I can't say how long that process will continue."

Over the next hour Carrard and the IOC's Giselle Davis fielded questions on each and every development of the last seven days. But one answer was particularly telling. What would the IOC commission have done had the athletes and their coach not handed in their accreditations? Carrard sat fully upright: "Let me simply say that the disciplinary commission thought that they had sufficient material and evidence that would have probably led to a sanction for the Athens Games, had of course the athletes not surrendered their accreditation. But that's only my opinion."

Lust is what partly motivates athletic success, the craving for the pleasures of the body associated with Olympic success. Kenteris experienced it in Sydney and only a victory in Athens could surpass it.

Anger is brought about when the love of sport is replaced with fury, and what probably drove Kenteris to crash his motorbike last Thursday. The IOC drug testers were on his tail, and he was helpless to stop them.

But for now the IOC's role is over. Once an athlete withdrew from the Games prior to competition, the IOC sanction of expulsion from the Games became a moot point. But they have referred the cases to the IAAF for further action, including possible sanction against both athletes, and also action against Tzekos.

So if the IAAF press swiftly ahead with the charges of two missed drugs tests then the two athletes are looking at a two-year ban. For Kenteris, aged 31, and Thanou, 29, that would almost certainly be career over.

Greed is the athletes' desire for material wealth or gain, and had the Greek sprinters won Olympic titles on their home track over the coming days, God-like riches would have been assured.

Sloth is when an athlete avoids the physical work necessary to become a true Olympic champion, the sad end to the tale of Kenteris and Thanou.