Raducan Loses Doping Case Appeal

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 28 -- Facing the world for the first timesince her numbing disappointment, angelic, 4-foot-10 AndreeaRaducan smiled and spoke loud and clear. In her heart, sheinsisted, she knows she did nothing wrong.

But she won’t get her gold medal back. All for a dose of coldmedicine.

“All I did was take an innocent pill,” Raducan said calmlyafter her fate was decided today. “I don’t understand whyeverything has turned out this way. But in my heart, I am atpeace.”

After two days of arguments and deliberation, the Court ofArbitration for Sport upheld the International Olympic Committee’sdecision to strip Raducan of the medal after she tested positivefor the banned stimulant, pseudoephedrine.

The stimulant is found in the over-the-counter cold remedy theteam doctor prescribed for Raducan, apparently unaware it couldcost the 16-year-old gymnast her medal. The Romanians argued thatRaducan shouldn’t be punished for the doctor’s mistake.

The three-person arbitration panel disagreed with that argument.It went along with the IOC’s wish to draw a clear line betweenwhat’s allowed and not allowed at these Olympics, even though itsmembers conceded Raducan did nothing sinister by taking the pills.

Court’s Ruling

Raducan was supposed to be the next Romanian hero, the first towin all-around gymnastic gold since Nadia Comaneci in a smallcountry where great Olympic moments are few and far between.

“It’s difficult for me to explain to her in my own languagethat you’re innocent, but you’re still not going to get themedal,” Comaneci said today, facing hundreds of camerasalongside Raducan.

The presence of a banned substance constitutes an offense“irrespective of whether or not the competitor intended to ingestthe prohibited substance,” the court ruled.

“A strict liability test must thus be applied, the consequencebeing automatic disqualification as a matter of law and in fairnessto other athletes,” it said.