Romanian Gymnast Loses Gold Medal

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 26 -- Romania’s Andreea Raducan was strippedof her all-around gymnastics gold medal after testing positive fora banned stimulant.

The decision today (Monday night ET) to strip the medal ofthe 16-year-old, who’s drawn comparisons to Nadia Comaneci for herlooks and talent, was made by the IOC’s executive board, followingthe recommendation from its medical commission.

Raducan appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport late today,challenging the decision the International Olympic Committee’sexecutive board made earlier in the day. The CAS said three arbitratorswould meet in Sydney on Wednesday to hear the case.

“The CAS will decide after that hearing whether or not afinal decision will be issued on the same day,” the court, setup by the International Olympic Committee to rule on sportingdisputes during competition, said in a statement.

Team Doctor Expelled The team doctor who gave Raducan the drug in two cold medicinepills was expelled from the games and suspended through the 2002winter games in Salt Lake and 2004 summer games in Athens. Thedecisions were confirmed by Thomas Bach, a member of theInternational Olympic Committee’s executive board.

Raducan is the first gymnast to be stripped of a medal becauseof a drug violation, and is the second athlete at these games tolose a gold. She is the sixth positive drug case at the SydneyGames.

With Raducan’s disqualification, another Romanian, SimonaAmanar, gets the gold and teammate Maria Olaru goes from bronze tosilver. Liu Xuan of China, the original fourth-place finisher, nowgets the bronze medal.

Raducan was allowed to keep her other medals, a gold from theteam competition and a silver from the vault. IOC executive boardmember Anita DeFrantz said she also could remain in the OlympicVillage with her team for the rest of the Games.

Raducan tested positive for pseudoephidrene, which is on theIOC’s list of banned stimulants, Bach said.