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Raducan awaits fate after positive drug test
SYDNEY, Sept 26 (AFP) - Teenage Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan could be stripped of her women's all-around title after testing positive for a banned substance, an International Olympic Committee official said here Tuesday. Raducan and members of the Romanian delegation met with the IOC medical commission Monday night and the commission made its report to the IOC executive committee here Tuesday. "The executive board met this morning and a decision has been taken," said Franklin Servan-Schreiber, an International Olympic Committee spokesman. "We will announce it at the briefing on Tuesday morning." Raducan, who turns 17 on Saturday, became the first Romanian to win all-around gold since Nadia Comaneci, who scored a perfect 10 on the way to gold in 1976 in Montreal. The tiny tumbler tested positive for pseudo-ephedrine, a drug that Romanian Olympic Committee president Ion Tiriac said is on the IOC banned list but not banned by the International Gymnastics Federation. Raducan, who stands only 148 centimeters tall and weighs just 37 kg, took a cold medication pill from a doctor that contained the banned substance, said Tiriac. Raducan did not test positive after she won the women's all-around title last Thursday but was positive after capturing a silver Sunday in vaulting. The world floor exercise champion competed Monday in the Olympic floor exercise final after knowing of her positive test and placed seventh out of eight finalists in her most beloved event. Trained since the age of seven by Romanian Olympic coach Octavian Belu, dark-eyed beauty Raducan won over the judges with her high leaps and radiant smile. Raducan led Romania to the team title a week ago and led a podium sweep in the all-around. Compatriots Simona Amanar and Maria Olaru took silver and bronze but could move up if Raducan loses her all-around crown. China's Xuan Liu, who placed fourth, could gain the bronze medal. Raducan's case continues a string of doping misfortunes for Romanians at the Olympics, following weightlifters Traian Ciharean and Adrian Mateias, who returned positive samples in pre-Games testing. Tiriac argued for leniency for Raducan, telling Roamian television, "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.
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