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Court dismisses Romanian gymnast appeal over drug test
= (PICTURES) = ATTENTION - REFILES to amend slug /// SYDNEY, Sept 28 (AFP) - A sports tribunal Thursday dismissed an appeal by Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan to have her Olympic gold medal returned after she was disqualified for failing a dope test. The powerful Court of Arbitration for Sport said there were no grounds for returning the medal to Raducan, who tested positive for a banned stimulant following her victory in the individual all-around competition on September 21. "The panel is aware of the impact of its decision on a fine, young, elite athlete," the court said in a statement read by its secretary general Matthieu Reeb. "It finds, in balancing the interests of Miss Raducan with the commitment of the Olympic movement to drug-free sport, the anti-doping code must be enforced without compromise," the statement concluded. Raducan, who earned comparisons with the legendary Romanian Nadia Comaneci following her brilliant gold medal winning performance last week, had her medal revoked after testing positive for pseudoephedrine. The drug was contained in a cold tablet given to her by Romania's team physician Ioachin Oana. Oana was banned for four years by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday. The IOC earlier this week accepted Romanian explanations the drug was taken innocently and that Raducan had gained no competitive advantage by its presence. But Olympic officials remained unmoved by the Romanian team's calls for the decision to be reversed and the medal restored. The team had argued Raducan's size and weight -- she is 148 cm tall and weighs 37 kg -- had contributed to the positive test. Raducan's team-mate Simona Amanar, the silver medallist, had taken an identical dosage of the same medication and tested negative. Romanian officials had also argued Raducan could not be blamed because she was entirely dependent on the team doctor's advice. But in a statement announcing the ruling, CAS dismissed the arguments. "...factors such as the athlete's age, her weight, the need for medication, the fact the drug may not have enhanced the performance, and the reliance on the team's doctor are irrelevant," Reeb said. "It is the presence of a prohibited substance in a competitor's bodily fluid which constitutes the offence irrespective of whether or not the competitor intended to ingest the prohibited substance." The ruling was greeted with dismay and anger from Raducan and Romanian team officials. "I'm very disappointed with the result," Raducan said at a press conference. "It's not for me to judge the decision of the court. But I know in my heart I didn't do anything wrong and I am at peace. "I took a pill for a cold. It didn't help me, on the contrary, it made me dizzy. I just don't understand why everything has turned out this way," she said. Raducan was flanked at the press conference by her idol Comaneci, team-mates Maria Olaru and Amanar along with Romania Olympic Committee President Ion Tiriac. Comaneci, 1976 Montreal Olympics gold medal winner, said an exception should have been made for Raducan. "I understand when somebody takes performance-enhancing drugs that the IOC should be tough and have a zero tolerance policy. But I think that we should recognise that not everybody is the same and that not every sport is the same," Comaneci said. "I don't see how they can say 'You're innnocent, but we're still going to keep your medal'. I don't think that's fair." Raducan's gold medal will now go to teammate Amanar. Amanar's silver goes to bronze medallist Olaru. Earlier reports said the two gymnasts would refuse the medals but Amanar said she would now keep the gold. "For me this medal does not mean anything. I'm going to accept it only because it belongs to Romania but I don't want it. It belongs to Andreea -- the Olympic champion on that day was her, not me." IOC director-general Francois Carrard said Thursday's ruling vindicated the decision to disqualify Raducan. "It was a very tough decision to take for the IOC. But this ruling demonstrates that it had no option, and this has to be understood within the context of the very strict divisions of the anti-doping code," Carrard said.
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