Romanian Gymnast Appeals to Get Gold Backgreenspun.com : LUSENET : TB2K spinoff uncensored : One Thread |
Tuesday September 26 11:28 AM ETRomanian Gymnast Appeals to Get Gold Back
By Paul Holmes
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan appealed on Tuesday against the loss of her all-round Olympic gold medal after she tested positive for a banned drug contained in a remedy she took to cure a cold.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said three arbitrators would meet in Sydney on Wednesday to hear the case.
``The CAS will decide after that hearing whether or not a final decision will be issued on the same day,'' the court, set up by the International Olympic Committee to rule on sporting disputes during competition, said in a statement.
Raducan, who will be 17 on Saturday, lost the gold medal she won in last Thursday's artistic all-round final when the stimulant pseudo-ephedrine showed up in her drugs test.
The sanction unleashed a wave of sympathy for the tiny athlete, a star of the Sydney Games after the IOC acknowledged that she innocently took an over-the-counter cold remedy containing the drug that was prescribed by her team doctor.
``I feel very sorry for her,'' China's Liu Xuan, who moved up to bronze in the event, said of the svelte Romanian.
``I'm very happy for myself -- a very surprised sort of happy -- but I think that the all-round champion really is very good.''
The FIG, gymnastics' governing body, said it would take no further action against Raducan.
``It was felt that the removal of the medal was punishment enough for an athlete who was innocent in this situation,'' it said in a statement.
The doctor involved, Oana Ioachim, was expelled from the Sydney Olympics by the IOC and banned from the 2002 Winter and 2004 Summer Games. The FIG said the physician would also be excluded from all international events for four years.
Raducan became the fifth athlete to test positive for drugs in competition at the Sydney Games. The others were three Bulgarian weightlifters, all medallists, and a Latvian rower.
Zero Tolerance
IOC director general Francois Carrard said Raducan would be allowed to keep a team gold as well as a vaulting silver she won earlier in the Games and would not be expelled from the Olympics.
The Romanian was not tested in the random doping controls after the team event and her result was negative after the vault.
Carrard defended her disqualification in the all-round as proof that the IOC was determined to eradicate doping in sport, whatever the circumstances.
``It's tough, but that's what it's all about,'' Carrard told a news conference. ``We're not looking for whether there is intention or not.''
Jacques Rogge, a member of the IOC medical commission, said Raducan had to lose her medal out of fairness to her rivals.
``In a way she's innocent, but she had a competitive advantage because of the drug and this distorted the competition.
``Out of fairness to the others who competed in a clean state, she has to be removed from the results. It's hard, it's not pleasant but we owe it to the other athletes,'' he told Reuters.
Romanian Olympic Committee president Ion Tiriac said Raducan was shattered by the news.
``We are talking about two cold pills that you buy over the counter,'' he said. ``We believe that this case is completely irrelevant, the athlete is the best gymnast in the world.
He said as many as eight other Romanian athletes had colds and he himself had taken the remedy, Nurofen, ``in probably 10 times more doses'' than Raducan had.
The IOC awarded Raducan's gold to her teammate Simona Amanar, with fellow-Romanian Maria Olaru moving up to silver.
-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), September 26, 2000
``It was felt that the removal of the medal was punishment enough for an athlete who was innocent in this situation,''....Nonsense. The differences in cold medications are by now very well-known by both athletes and by their doctors--international sports has had incidents like this in the past that have been well-publicized (e.g. Silken Lauman). Consider the many athletes who came down with flu or colds upon arrival in Sydney and who did not take such medications to aid a quicker recovery--it gave an unfair advantage to people like her who did.
On another front, it would appear the U.S. is finally being caught out in their doping cover-ups. All these years when they've been saying "we are the best," and now at last the record is beginning to show those wins were as artificially-assisted as were those of all those other countries the U.S. chastised for so long.
-- US (cheatedall@long.yes), September 26, 2000.
oh GAWD, here goes y2kpro and his typical hate-speech against Americans!"wahhh!!! my country can't win any medals, so everyone else MUST be cheating!!! WAHHHHHHH!!!!"
Tally the medals Mr. 206.172.145.17 , who has kicked @SS this Olympics?
-- Proud American (waving@the.flag), September 26, 2000.
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Shot put champ Hunter says he's no cheat
World shot put champion CJ Hunter has vowed to vigorously defend himself against tests showing he has taken the banned substance nandrolone.
Hunter and his wife, Olympic sprint champion Marion Jones, have held an emotional media conference in Sydney, appealing for Jones to be left alone for her remaining four events at the Olympics.
Hunter has been supported by a US nutritional adviser who says the positive test results are low and could have been caused by contamination from the factory producing the athlete's dietary supplements.
Hunter says he would never do anything to disappoint his family, and will challenge the findings in the courts.
"I don't know what has happened, but I can promise everybody I am going to find out," he said.
Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Hunter tested positive to steroids four times since June.
The IOC's medical commission chief, Prince Alexandre de Merode, says Hunter failed three out-of-competition tests in Rome, Barcelona and Oslo as well as one in-competition test, also in Oslo.
He says all four tests produced similar results, showing Hunter had the banned steroid nandrolone in his system.
"Nearly the same level, nearly the same result," he said. "That was clear in all these tests."
The IOC had confirmed the in-competition test yesterday.
IOC official, Johann Koss, says the US track and field team has only itself to blame if Marion Jones' bid for five gold medals in Sydney is derailed by Hunter's positive drugs tests.
Koss, the IOC representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the US tried to conceal Hunter's dope test and was to blame for the announcement coming in the middle of Jones' Olympic campaign.
"I should think this is affecting her a lot to prepare for the rest of the Games and I think that's unfair for her," he told Channel 9.
"But I think the US Track and Field should have released this a long time before this happened so this wouldn't happen now just during the Games."
However, Koss said it would be unfair to cast aspersions on Jones just because her husband had tested positive.
"These are two totally different cases," he said.
"Marion Jones is under a lot of pressure now and certainly she is totally innocent and she has no relation to his positive case and I think this is very clear." ______________________________
At a thousand times the normal level? And his wife didn't know?
You just keep on waving, sister. Vigorously.
-- butofcourse (innocentye@h.yah), September 26, 2000.
linkHunter speaks out on drug accusations
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says champion United States shot putter CJ Hunter has tested positive to steroids four times since June.
Hunter withdrew from the Sydney Olympics before they began citing injury, but is in Sydney supporting and coaching his wife, American sprint champion Marion Jones, who opened her quest for five gold medals by winning the 100 metres on Saturday.
The IOC's medical commission chief, Prince Alexandre de Merode, says Hunter failed three out-of-competition tests in Rome, Barcelona and Oslo as well as one in-competition test, also in Oslo.
He says all four tests produced similar results, showing Hunter had the banned steroid nandrolone in his system.
"Nearly the same level, nearly the same result," he said.
"That was clear in all these tests."
The IOC had confirmed the in-competition test yesterday.
Hunter has spoken publicly for the first time since the test results were revealed.
Hunter and Jones, held an emotional media conference in Sydney, appealing for Jones to be left alone for her remaining four events at the Olympics.
Hunter says he would never do anything to disappoint his family and will challenge the findings in the courts.
"I don't know what has happened, but I can promise everybody I am going to find out," he said.
"I am going to find out and you're going to know. I don't have any interest in coming back into the sport.
"I never have, I never have. This was the last thing I was going to do with the Olympic team," he said.
Dietry supplements
A nutritionist representing United States shot-put champion CJ Hunter claims his positive drug test may be the result of contaminated dietary supplements.
Hunter, who is not competing at the Olympic Games, has tested positive four times to the anabolic steroid nandrolone but says he has never taken the drug and will challenge the findings.
Nutritionist Victor Conte says Hunter's results show trace levels of nandrolone which may have come from the factory which produces his dietary supplement.
Hunter's told the media he does not want the controversy surrounding his test results to affect his wife, sprint gold-medallist Marion Jones as she aims for four more gold medals.
"What will affect Marion is the badgering by reporters that's the only thing that will affect her," he said.
"She's my wife - we've been through things you can't imagine, this is not a problem.
"We just need to make sure she stays focused and healthy, and everything else will work out."
US team
IOC official Johann Koss says the US Track and Field team has only itself to blame if Marion Jones' bid for five gold medals in Sydney is derailed by Hunter's positive drugs tests.
Koss, the IOC representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the US tried to conceal Hunter's dope test and was to blame for the announcement coming in the middle of Jones' Olympic campaign.
"I should think this is affecting her a lot to prepare for the rest of the Games and I think that's unfair for her," he told Channel 9.
"But I think the US Track and Field should have released this a long time before this happened so this wouldn't happen now just during the Games."
However, Koss said it would be unfair to cast aspersions on Jones just because her husband had tested positive.
"These are two totally different cases," he said.
"Marion Jones is under a lot of pressure now and certainly she is totally innocent and she has no relation to his positive case and I think this is very clear."
Accreditation
The IOC this morning withdrew Hunter's Olympic accreditation.
He now may not be able to gain entry to the stadium to watch his wife run.
The United States track and field team is under pressure over possible drug test cover-ups.
The allegations have led to claims that US team officials are not being totally open about results of pre-competition drug testing.
Members of the US squad admit the Hunter allegations will cast suspicion on other team members whether they win or pull out due to injury.
Raducan
Romanian Olympic all-around artistic gymnastics champion Andreea Raducan was stripped of her gold medal today after failing a drug test as Olympic chiefs vowed no let-up in their war on drugs.
Raducan becomes the first gymnast in Olympic history to be disqualified for doping.
Traces of the drug pseudoephedrine were found in her urine sample following the individual all-around competition last week.
The stimulant was contained in a cold pill prescribed to her by the team physician, Ioachim Oana.
IOC media director Francois Carrard says although the stimulant would not have given Raducan any competitive advantage, it was necessary to send a clear message drugs would not be tolerated.
"There is a specific provision which states that the mere presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete's body is a doping case," he said.
"We're not looking at the intent, it's the presence of a substance in the body of an athlete that constitutes doping.
"It's tough but that's what it's all about. We have to be tough and refrain from emotions and feelings."
Carrard is adamant the decison will not tarnish the Olympics.
"We are demonstrating to the world what we mean about fighting against doping," he said.
Following the announcement, the Romanians pulled out of a gala gymnastics event.
Raducan, who turns 17 on Saturday, became the first Romanian to win all-around gold since Nadia Comaneci in 1976.
She is the second gold medallist of these Games to lose her medal after Bulgarian weightlifter Izabela Dragneva.
Romanian Olympic Committee president Ion Tiriac says the drug was on the IOC's banned list but not banned by the International Gymnastics Federation and pleaded leniency.
Raducan will keep her gold in the teams event and her silver from the vault because she returned negative doping results from those competitions.
She will also be allowed to stay in the athletes' village for the rest of the Games.
IOC vice-president Kevan Gosper says the case was difficult and complex.
However he says an appropriate outcome has been reached.
"It's not easy. I'm pleased that the athlete can continue to compete," he said.
Before it was revealed that Raducan would be stripped of her medal, Tiriac said: "Andreea took two neurophrene tablets to treat a cold and probably because of her weight [37kg], this showed up in the test.
"It would be obscene if she were stripped of her medals for two tablets which were in no absolutely no way intended to improve her performances.
"When two Romanian weightlifters tested positive I didn't intervene to defend them, but in this instance I am going to fight to see that justice is done."
Raducan's case continues a string of doping problems for Romanians at the Olympics.
Romanian weightlifters Traian Ciharean and Adrian Mateias returned positive samples in pre-Games testing.
-- more (uscoverup@home.com), September 26, 2000.
Tuesday September 26 3:45 PM ETReport: Romanians Return Medals
By NANCY ARMOUR, AP Sports Writer
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Romania has returned its remaining two medals in the Olympic women's all-around gymnastics competition to protest Andreea Raducan's loss of her gold medal for taking cold medication containing a banned substance, Romanian national television reported Tuesday.
``The gold, silver and bronze medals have been returned although initially (coach) Octavian Belu favored keeping the gold and silver medals which the Romanians would have won anyway,'' Romanian TV said in the report from Sydney.
Belu was reported to have said that 16-year-old Raducan had decided to give up gymnastics, television said. Belu could not be reached for further comment.
The 4-foot-10, 82-pound Raducan was stripped of her gold from the women's all-around Tuesday after she tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a banned stimulant. She is the first gymnast ever to be stripped of a medal because of a drug violation.
The action by the International Olympic Committee's executive board meant that Raducan's teammate Simona Amanar moved up to get the gold, while Romanian Maria Olaru got the silver. Liu Xuan of China then got the bronze.
Raducan has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and a hearing was scheduled for Wednesday.
The Romanian team doctor who gave her the drug was expelled from the games and suspended through the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake and 2004 Summer Games in Athens.
``In the fight against doping, we have to be tough and be blind to emotions and feelings,'' said Francois Carrard, the International Olympic Committee's director general.
Raducan was allowed to keep her gold from the team competition and silver in the vault final. But losing the all-around gold was crushing for the wispy teen, whose dark coloring and pixieish charm evoked memories of Nadia Comaneci (news - web sites), Romania's last Olympic darling.
Even the IOC acknowledged that Raducan's case is not like most others. She took a common cold medicine, and it provided ``no competitive advantage at that competition,'' Carrard said.
Some 400 students, some chanting ``Give the medal back,'' marched through the southern Romanian city of Craiova on Tuesday demanding that Raducan's gold be returned to her.
``Thrown out for having a cold,'' read one poster.
Romania has waited 24 years for a gymnast who could captivate the world like Comaneci, who scored the first perfect 10 at the Montreal Olympics in 1976.
The Romanians have won dozens of Olympic medals since then, but could never capture the all-around, the biggest prize on sport's grandest stage.
Until Raducan.
Performing to ``Riverdance'' on Thursday, Raducan pranced across the floor, a wide, infectious smile on her face. She looked almost like Peter Pan as she tumbled, flying across the floor with ease. When she finished, she ran to coach Octavian Belu and climbed onto his shoulders, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd.
It wasn't just her presence on the floor that charmed fans. Raducan, who turns 17 on Saturday, has a wonderful, childlike naivete. When she came into the news conference after winning the all-around, she perched at the edge of Olaru's chair instead of taking the seat reserved for her at the middle of the table.
Told the place of honor was hers, the gold medalist said she thought it was for her coach.
``It's like having a dream, a nice dream,'' Raducan said then. ``I still feel like I'm in this dream.''
It quickly became a bad dream.
All medalists are tested for drugs, and Raducan's sample after the all-around came back positive. The level of drug in her urine was 90 nanograms per milliliter, more than three times greater than the 24 nanograms per milliliter allowed by the IOC.
She also was tested after winning a silver in the vault Sunday. That sample was negative. She was not tested after the team competition Sept. 19.
``We're all devastated, but I can't imagine how she feels,'' said Comaneci, who now coaches gymnastics in Norman, Okla. ``Because she's kind of a victim of a thing she didn't have any control of. ... She's a victim of a mistake of the doctor.''
-- (hmm@hmm.hmm), September 26, 2000.
do you really think it was appropriate to post IP address?
-- cin (cin@=0.)), September 26, 2000.
Of course it was, cin. Sneaky. Underhanded. The American way.http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000929/ts/olympics_leadall_dc _84.html
Friday September 29 4:06 AM ET Americans Ready to Hand Over Drug Testing
By Jon Bramley
SYDNEY (Reuters) - As the Olympics approached their finale, American track and field chiefs offered on Friday to hand over their drugs testing operation to world anti-doping agency WADA, seeking to dispel suspicion once and for all.
U.S. Track and Field (USATF) chiefs said the offer had been made to the International Olympic Committee (news - web sites) (IOC) who, despite the Americans' best efforts, ``do not have total confidence in how we have handled doping matters.''
A leading IOC medical commission chief had earlier in the Games accused the United States of covering up five doping cases before the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Another medical chief said the U.S. athletics authorities had also failed to inform track and field's world governing body of 15 suspicious doping cases over the last two years.
Dick Pound, the IOC vice-president, said WADA were likely to take over. ``We can do it. It might be a model for the future.''
__________________________
So, why did flojo die?
-- cheating (all@long.USA), September 29, 2000.