Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan has requested the International Olympic Committee to give her back the medal she won at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Raducan had her medal withdrawn because she was found to have used a then-illegal substance, pseudoephedrine, an ingredient of a simple cold pill. The substance was since removed from the list of drugs banned in sporting events.
The Romanian Sports Olympics Committee is currently considering how to support Raducan’s attempt to get back the Olympic title she was stripped of in Sydney, years after the World Anti-doping Agency removed the substance from the banned list.
Raducan’s case sparked consternation in Romania at the time as she and two other Romanians took all three medals in individual contests in Sydney. She was welcomed by crowds and the then-President Emil Constantinescu on her return to Bucharest.
But Romania’s challenge of the IOC decision, considering that the team doctor gave her the pill for a simple cold, was met with total resistance.
