Andreea Răducan
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Andreea Mădălina Răducan (; born 30 September 1983) is a retired
gymnast Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
from
Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret, the other skirting th ...
,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. She currently works as a sports announcer and journalist. Răducan began competing in gymnastics at a young age and was training at the Romanian junior national facility by the age of 12. As one of the outstanding gymnasts of the Romanian team in the late 1990s, Răducan was known both for her difficult repertoire of skills and her dance and presentation. Over her four-year senior career, she won Olympic or World Championships medals on every event except the
uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
and earned three individual World Championships titles, on the
floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...
in 1999 and 2001 and the
balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...
in 2001. Răducan competed at the
2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, where she contributed strongly to the Romanian team's gold medal and won an individual silver medal on the
vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...
. She was also the original winner of the all-around title, but was disqualified and stripped of her gold medal shortly after the competition concluded, when it was revealed that she had failed doping controls, testing positive for pseudoephedrine, a banned substance. She and her coaches maintained that she had been given the substance in two cold medicine pills by a Romanian
team physician The team physician for a sports team is the physician who is in charge of coordinating the medical staff and medical services for a sports team. They are also subject to activities involving team building The goal of a team physician is to improve p ...
, and that they had not affected her performance in any way. The case generated a significant amount of media attention, and Răducan was supported by members of the gymnastics community and the Romanian public. Her case was brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in autumn 2000. Răducan herself was exonerated of any personal wrongdoing by the CAS, the Romanian Olympic Committee and the International Gymnastics Federation, and was not subject to any disciplinary measures. However, her medal was not reinstated, and the team doctor who administered the medicine was banned for two Olympic cycles. Răducan returned the year after the Olympics to win five additional World Championships medals, but retired from gymnastics in 2002. As an adult, she has worked as a sports announcer and media personality, and has pursued university level studies in journalism.


Early career

Răducan was one of the "new-generation gymnasts" groomed to take over the torch of Romanian gymnastics excellence after the retirements of the Olympic medalists
Lavinia Miloșovici Lavinia Corina Miloșovici (born 21 October 1976) is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast.Jane Perlez (13 July 1995"Romanian Coach Keeps Up the Fight" ''New York Times'' An exceptionally successful athlete on the international competition circuit ...
and
Gina Gogean Gina Elena Gogean (born 9 September 1977) is a retired artistic gymnast from Romania who competed internationally in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. During her career she won an impressive number of 30 medals at Olympic Games, world cha ...
. She began gymnastics at the age of four and a halfOfficial FIG profile
in her hometown of Bârlad. In 1996, after winning over twenty medals in local and regional competitions, she was invited to train at the Romanian junior team facility in
Onești Onești (; hu, Ónfalva) is a municipiu, city in Bacău County, Romania, with a population of 39,172 inhabitants. It is situated in the historical region of Western Moldavia, Moldavia. Administratively, the villages of Slobozia and Borzești ...
. Two years later, she was promoted to the national training center in
Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
. Răducan's first major international event was the 1998 Junior European Championships, where she won a silver medal on the
balance beam The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...
, tied for bronze on the
floor exercise In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...
and took fourth place in the all-around. The next year, she rose to the senior ranks and made an impact at the World Championships in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, China, winning the floor exercise final and placing fifth in the all-around. While Răducan's work on the
uneven bars The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
was considered weak, her skills on beam, vault and floor exercise were applauded. She was also admired because, unlike other members of the Romanian team, she showed a great deal of expression in her choreography and a wide variety of complex skills in her routines.


Sydney Olympics

Răducan competed well at the Sydney Olympics, helping the Romanian women to win their first Olympic team gold medal since 1984. She qualified for the floor and vault event finals, and, along with her teammates
Simona Amânar Simona Amânar (; born 7 October 1979) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast. She is a seven-time Olympic and ten-time World Championship medalist. Amânar helped Romania win four consecutive world team titles (1994–1999), as well as the 20 ...
and
Maria Olaru Maria Olaru (born 4 June 1982)
Maria Olaru
is a ...
, the all-around finals. In the preliminary round of competition, she had the second highest all-around score of all competitors in the competition, trailing Russia's
Svetlana Khorkina Svetlana Vasilyevna Khorkina (russian: Светлана Васильевна Хоркина; born 19 January 1979) is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the 2004 Summer Ol ...
by 0.288. The all-around was mired in controversy. The vault was set 5 centimeters too low, creating a dangerous situation that completely altered the gymnasts' pre- and post-flights. As a result of the incorrectly set vault, many gymnasts suffered serious crashes and injuries during both the warm-ups and the competition, including Khorkina. The British gymnast Annika Reeder was hurt badly enough to withdraw from the remainder of the competition. Even those who escaped injury found themselves shaken by their experiences on the vault. When the error was discovered in the third rotation,
International Federation of Gymnastics The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...
officials reset the vault height and allowed the competition to continue. They did permit the gymnasts who had vaulted in the first two rotations to take another turn on vault and to be rescored; not every athlete accepted this offer.Selena Jones
"Romania Sweeps as Controversy Swirls"
''New York Times'', September 22, 2000
Răducan was one of the gymnasts who had vaulted on the incorrectly set apparatus but did not suffer a fall on the event and performed without serious error. She continued through the competition, turning in strong performances on
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
and floor, and ended up with the all-around gold medal. On the podium with her were her Romanian teammates; Amânar with silver and Olaru with bronze. Răducan was the first Romanian gymnast to win the Olympic all-around title since
Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 ...
in 1976; it was also the first time since 1960 that gymnasts from a single country swept the WAG all-around podium at the Olympics."Raducan tests positive for stimulant"
Associated Press, September 26, 2000
It was also the last time it was possible for three gymnasts from the same country to sweep the all-around, as the "two per country rule" was introduced in the next Olympic cycle. Andreea went on to win the silver medal in the Vault final, behind
Elena Zamolodchikova Elena "Zamo" Mikhailovna Zamolodchikova (russian: Елена Михайловна Замолодчикова; born 19 September 1982) is a Russian former artistic gymnast, and four-time Olympic medallist. In 2015, she was inducted in the Int ...
of Russia and ahead of Ekaterina Lobazniouk of Russia. Speculations around the all around gold arose and Andreea was informed that there was a possibility that she could be stripped of her all around gold medal. This affected her mentally and she went to the floor final fazed by the situation. She fell on her third tumbling pass, and received a score of 9.275. Without that error, she would have scored a 9.775, which was enough for the bronze medal.


Doping charge

Several days after the competition concluded, the
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
announced that Răducan had tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a banned substance. Răducan and her coaches maintained that she was innocent. As a minor, they argued, she had only followed the treatment plan recommended by Ioachim Oana, the team physician. In the book she published in 2010, Răducan states that a few hours before the competition she had been given
Nurofen Nurofen is a brand name range of pain-relief medication containing ibuprofen made by the British multinational Reckitt. Introduced in 1983, the Nurofen brand was acquired following Reckitt Benckiser's acquisition of Boots (company), Boots in 200 ...
Cold & Flu, a common over-the-counter medication containing pseudoephedrine, to help treat a fever and cough. She also said that the pills had made her feel dizzy instead of helping her in any way."Court supports IOC over Raducan"
BBC, September 28, 2000
"Arbitrators uphold decision to strip Raducan of gold"
'Sports Illustrated''/CNN, November 13, 2000
Despite strenuous appeals from Răducan, her coaches, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation and certain members of the gymnastics community, she was stripped of her gold medal. The gold was re-awarded to Amânar, Olaru was promoted to silver, and former fourth-place finisher Liu Xuan from China was given the bronze medal. Răducan's test samples from the team and vault event finals were clean; she was therefore allowed to keep the medals she won in these competitions."In our Spotlight: Andreea Raducan"
''International Gymnast'', January 2001
The Romanian team doctor who gave Răducan the drug in two cold medicine pills was expelled from the Games and suspended through the
2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...
at
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
and the
2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. Both Amânar and Olaru expressed their belief that Răducan was the deserving all-around gold medalist, as did Liu Xuan, who noted, "I think the all-around champ (Răducan) is very good. I feel very sad and sorry for her that this problem occurred. I can't make sense of it. ...In gymnastics, we rely on technique to complete our moves. It's not possible to rely on drugs or strength, you have to rely on skill." All three declined a formal ceremony when the medals were re-awarded."Amanar retires, Tiriac resigns"
''International Gymnast'', September 29, 2000
Following the announcement that Răducan would be stripped of her medal, Olaru and Amânar initially decided to refuse their new medals. However, they changed their minds in order to bring the medals back to Romania. Amânar said of the gold medal, "I didn't win it. It was won by Andreea and belongs to Andreea.""Amanar retires as Raducan feted"
BBC Sport, October 1, 2000
It was thought that Amânar had given Răducan the gold medal back once the team returned to Romania, but Răducan herself is quoted as saying, in an interview with gymnastics podcast ''Gymcastic'':


Aftermath

Răducan's case was brought before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in late September 2000. While the arbitration panel did concede that Răducan had not gained any advantage by taking the pseudoephedrine, and that she was an underage athlete who had followed her team physician's instructions, they also upheld the IOC's decision. The basis for their decision was the belief that the Anti-Doping Code of the Olympics had to be enforced "without compromise", regardless of the intentions or age of the athlete. Răducan was exonerated of any personal wrongdoing by the Romanian Olympic Committee, and therefore was not subjected to the sporting ban usually imposed on athletes involved in doping cases. However,
Ion Țiriac Ion Țiriac (; born 9 May 1939), also known as the "Brașov Bulldozer", is a Romanian businessman and former professional tennis and ice hockey player. He has been president of the Romanian Tennis Federation. A former singles top 10 player on ...
, the president of the Romanian Olympic Committee (ROC), resigned over the scandal."Raducan can keep competing"
''International Gymnast'', October 18, 2000
The executive committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) also unanimously decided not to impose any suspension or punishment on Răducan, taking the stance that losing her medal "was punishment enough for an athlete who was innocent in this situation". The FIG, IOC and ROC all agreed with the punishment and suspension of Dr. Oana, viewing him as the guilty party for administering the banned substance to Răducan and her teammate. Oana was permitted to keep his medical license and was cleared of malpractice by the Deva Physicians' Association, who stated that he had not committed any offense "from a medical perspective". Despite the controversy, Răducan was still seen as a positive and even sympathetic figure. She received a significant amount of support in Romania, and members of the gymnastics community, including
Nadia Comăneci Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 ...
, publicly expressed their support. On returning to Romania with her teammates, she was personally greeted and presented with flowers by Romanian President
Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...
. Răducan was given a replacement medal in pure gold by a Romanian jeweler; she also received several endorsements and sponsorships. At one point, a Răducan doll was even rumored to be in the works. In addition, the prize money she would have been awarded from the Romanian Olympic Committee for her all-around gold was replaced, and doubled, by a group of Romanian businessmen."Amanar tops Romanian money list"
''International Gymnast'', October 15, 2000
She, along with Amanar, was awarded a diplomatic passport by the Romanian government for being a "good ambassador for Romania".


After Sydney

Răducan continued to train in
Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
after the Olympics. With the retirement of her Sydney teammates Amânar, Olaru and Presăcan, she found herself one of the senior gymnasts at Deva. At the 2001 World Championships in
Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
, Belgium, she was part of the gold medal-winning Romanian team and picked up four individual medals: gold on floor and beam and bronze in the all-around and vault. Injuries and other concerns marred her training in 2002, and after a poor showing at the Worlds in Hungary, she quietly retired. After retiring, Răducan became a sports announcer in Romania. Her assignments for
EuroSport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
have included the 2004 Olympics in
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. She also has her own television show and does modelling and promotional work. Răducan also has a master's degree in journalism from the
University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princel ...
. In 2010, Răducan released her autobiography, ''The Other Side of the Medal'', which provides further insight into the disqualification of her all-around result at the 2000 Olympic Games. The 2020 "''Golden Girl''" film, directed by Adrian Robe and Denisa Morariu-Tamas, covers her attempt to reclaim her title.


President of Romanian Federation

On August 4, 2017, Andreea Răducan was elected president of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation (RGF). She takes over from Adrian Stoica, who was the President of the Federation for 12 years. It is expected to a huge challenge for Răducan to improve the performances of the Romanian team, who did not qualify a full team to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil. The failure to qualify marked the first time Romania did not field a gymnastics team at the Games since 1968. Drawing on the success of Romania successfully hosting the European Gymnastics Championships April 18–23, 2017, Romania was expected to contend for the all-around and individual titles at the 2017 World Gymnastics Championships in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Canada. Unfortunately, their arguably best all-around gymnast
Larisa Iordache Larisa Andreea Iordache (; born 19 June 1996) is a former Romanians, Romanian Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She represented Romania at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Romania at the 2012 Olympic Games, winning a bronze medal with the team, a ...
suffered a torn Achilles tendon during warm-up for qualifying. Romania's other hope for a medal,
Cătălina Ponor Cătălina Ponor (; born 20 August 1987) is a Romanian former artistic gymnast who competed at three Olympiads: 2004, 2012, and 2016. She won three gold medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens on balance beam, floor and as part of the R ...
, multiple medal winner in her gymnastics career, failed to qualify in either of the events she competed – beam or floor. She stepped down from her position upon the failure of either the women's or men's teams qualifying for the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
."Andreea Răducan Steps Down From The Helm Of The Romanian Gymnastics Federation"
''Romania Journal'', December 5, 2019


Competitive skills

*Vault: Round-off 1/2 twist on, front layout off. *Balance beam: full twisting back salto, double pike back dismount, tucked Korbut *Floor exercise: Double laid-out salto, Whip salto (immediate connection) Back-double pike salto, 2.5 twisting back layout (immediate connection) punch-layout-front, Triple-twisting back layout.


Floor music

*1998–2000: "Las Carretas del Rocio" by the ''Orquestra Española de Juan Alfonso'' *2000: "Reel Around The Sun" from the album ''
Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions Je ...
'' by
Bill Whelan Bill Whelan (born 22 May 1950 in Limerick, Ireland) is an Irish composer and musician. He is best known for composing a piece for the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The result, ''Riverdance'', was a seven-minute display of tradi ...
*2001: "Éclipse" from the album ''
Nouvelle Expérience ''Nouvelle Expérience'' was Cirque du Soleil's fourth touring circus show, which premiered in 1990. Before the show's conception, Cirque du Soleil attempted to revive one of its previous shows, ''Le Cirque Réinventé''. The attempt was abandon ...
'' by René Dupere *2002: "Meet Her At The Love Parade" by
Da Hool Frank Tomiczek (born 30 December 1968), better known as Da Hool, is a German DJ and producer. It was in Bottrop that he first honed his skills as a DJ, and by 1990 was an acclaimed performer in his native country. Da Hool Biography, AMG/ref> Mu ...
and "
Right in the Night "Right in the Night (Fall in Love with Music)" is a song by German electronic music duo Jam & Spoon, released as the second single from their second album, ''Tripomatic Fairytales 2001'' (1993). It is a Eurodance song with elements from progressi ...
" by
Jam & Spoon Jam & Spoon were a German electronic music duo formed in 1991 in Frankfurt. The group consisted of composers and producers Rolf Ellmer (a.k.a. Jam El Mar, classically trained composer) and Markus Löffel (a.k.a. Mark Spoon, DJ). They also worke ...
featuring
Plavka Plavka Coleridge ( née Lonich; born March 25, 1974) is an American singer. She is best known for being the singer of the German trance act Jam & Spoon, whose classically infused trance sound dominated the international charts in the mid-1990s ...


Competitive history


See also

*
Doping at the Olympic Games This article is about the history of competitors at the Olympic Games using banned ergogenic aid, athletic performance-enhancing drugs. History The use of performance-enhancing tactics or more formally known as PEDs, and more broadly, the use ...
*
List of doping cases in sport The following is an incomplete list of sportspeople who have been involved in doping offences. It contains those who have been found to have, or have admitted to having, taken Doping (sport), illegal performance-enhancing drugs, prohibited recrea ...
*
List of Olympic female artistic gymnasts for Romania Gymnastics events have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1896. Romanian female gymnasts have participated in every Olympic Games since 1952 except for 1968.
*
List of top female medalists at major artistic gymnastics events Individual women who won eight or more medals World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The years listed for each gymnast only include World Championships where they won medals. American gymnast Simone Biles holds the record for the most World Cha ...


References


Further reading

*


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raducan, Andreea 1983 births Living people Romanian female artistic gymnasts Doping cases in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts of Romania Olympic gold medalists for Romania Olympic silver medalists for Romania Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals Romanian sportspeople in doping cases World champion gymnasts Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Romanian television personalities Sportspeople from Bârlad