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Raducan set to lose gold after drugs test
BUCHAREST, Sept 25 (AFP) - Freshly-crowned Olympic all-round gymnastics champion Andrea Raducan faces losing her individual gold medal after failing a dope test for a banned substance, believed to be ephedrine, the Romanian Olympic Committee (COR) said Monday. The medical commission of the International Olympic Committee informed the Romanian gymnastics delegation in Sydney saying it had detected "positive signs" in her sample following a test on Sunday after she had won silver on the vault. She also captured team gold in Sydney. Romanian broadcaster Pro-TV reported that the IOC medical commission had proposed that Raducan be stripped of her overall gold but would be allowed to keep the team gold and her silver medal. Pro-TV also reported it had information the IOC medical commission was proposing a suspension for the Romanian gymnastic team's doctor, Ioachim Oana, through to the 2004 Games. A COR official in Sydney, Alexandru Mogos, said Raducan had tested negative on Friday after the team event. The IOC's medical commission are demanding an early explanation from Raducan, her coach Octavian Belu and the Romanian delegation. COR president Ion Tiriac said the IOC medical commission would propose a sanction against Raducan on Tuesday. "The medical commission will decide on a formula for punishing her, her doctor or her coach on Tuesday," Tiriac told Pro-TV from Sydney. Tiriac said the COR had been informed that Raducan has tested positive for "pseudo-ephedrine", a substance which does not figure on the International Gymnastics Federation list of banned products but which is banned by the IOC. Tiriac said: "Andrea 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, whose performances had commentators hearking back to the brilliant showings of Romanian legend Nadia Comaneci, star of the 1976 Games in Montreal, fronted a Romanian clean sweep in the all-around event as compatriots Simona Amanar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze. China's Xuan Liu, who placed fourth, could now gain a bronze medal. Raducan's doping case follows those of Romanian weightlifters Traian Ciharean and Adrian Mateias, who returned positive samples in pre-Games testing.
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