Athens - A Greek prosecutor charged Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion Fani Halkia with criminal doping offences Friday after she failed a dope test ahead of the 
2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Reports said that aside from Halkia, Greek prosecutors also charged sprinters Dimitris Regas and Tassos Gousis with consuming banned substances, as well as their coach Giorgos Panagiotopoulos with supplying them.

Halkia, who won Olympic gold in 2004, and Gousis were barred from competing in China.

A total of 15 Greek athletes tested positive for the banned substance methyltrienolone in the three months before the Beijing Games, including 11 weightlifters and a swimmer.

The trial is expected to be held within a year. (dpa)