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Raducan's golden birthday gift gone in doping disaster
= = SYDNEY, Sept 26 (AFP) - Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan was looking forward to a joyous 17th birthday on Saturday after following in the golden Olympic footsteps of her idol, Nadia Comaneci. But instead of a golden celebration, it will be a most bittersweet affair. Raducan tested positive for the banned substance pseudo-ephedrine and was stripped of her Olympic all-around gold medal here Tuesday, although she was allowed to keep a gold from the team event and a silver won in vaulting. Team doctor Ioachim Oana gave the girl a cold remedy that contained the drug, which is banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but allowed by the International Gymnastics Federation. Raducan had been the first Romanian gymnast to win Olympic all-around gold since Comaneci in 1976 at Montreal, where she recorded perfect 10 judge's scores on the way to enchanting the world. Instead, retiring Simona Amanar will end a series of runner-up finishes at world and Olympic all-around competitions and move into the historic gold medal position as a result of the disqualification of her best friend. As a result of a head cold at the wrong time, Raducan lost the award she had dreamed of ever since she entered the gymnastics school of Romanian Olympic coach Octavian Belu a decade ago. "What she feels, she shows," Belu said of his star pupil. "Andreea is one of the most stable competitiors in the competition. She has a dynamic program with skills in all events." The dark-eyed pixie from Birlad, the same hometown as world all-around champion teammate Maria Olaru, is seen as the person who will lead Romania's gymnastics program for the next Olympiad and into the 2004 Athens Olympics. The lone consolation for Raducan, the first gymnast ever testing positive for doping at the Olympics, is she will have another chance in four years. Raducan made her break onto the international scene at the 1998 Junior European championships, where she was only fourth overall but took second on the balance beam and third on the floor exercise. At 148 cm tall and 37 kg, she was the epitome of the pixie queens who have dominated Olympic gymnastics since Comaneci. That set the stage for her coming out party at the 1999 world championships in Tiajin, China. With some help from falls by Russia's Svetlana Khorkina, Raducan led Romania to the team title and also captured the floor exercise title as well.
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