Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were acquitted by an Athens appeals court on Tuesday of faking a motorcycle crash after missing a doping test on the eve of the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In a case that has dragged through the courts for nearly seven years, a panel of three judges issued the unanimous decision a day after a prosecutor recommended the two be acquitted on grounds of reasonable doubt in the crash.

The two were found guilty of perjury in May over the scandal — a  major embarrassment to the Olympics’ host nation — and given suspended 31-month jail sentences that they immediately appealed.

The appeals court upheld the conviction of the athletes’ coach, Christos Tzekos, on charges of possession and storage of illegal substances but acquitted him of a perjury charge relating to the motorcycle crash. The court reduced his initial sentence of 33 months in jail to 12 months, suspended for three years.

Stating that they could not determine beyond reasonable doubt whether the crash had indeed taken place, the judges also acquitted  seven state hospital doctors who treated the runners and two people  who said they witnessed the alleged accident. They had been given suspended sentences of between six and 15 months.

Thanou and Kenteris, both medalists at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Greece’s top contenders for Olympic track medals during the Athens Games, had been accused of staging the crash on Aug. 12, 2004, hours after missing a doping test before the opening of the Olympics.

The pair subsequently withdrew from the games, but vehemently denied the misdemeanour charges.