Romanians express support for Raducan

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Bucharest: Hundreds of young Romanians gathered across the country on Wednesday to express support for gymnast Andreea Raducan who was stripped of the Olympic all-round gold medal after failing a dope test in Sydney.

"We love you, Andreea. Come home where you are not alone," chanted some 200 young people and children in central Bucharest.

The 16-year-old Raducan was stripped of her title by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday after testing positive for pseudo-ephedrine contained in medicine she had taken to treat a cold on the advice of the team doctor.

"Andreea, don't forget the whole country is on your side," shouted hundreds of people in the Transylvanian town of Deva, the headquarters of Romania's Olympic gymnastics training centre.

"Andreea you are our star, keep on fighting and you will win," read a banner carried by a boy from the local sports school.

The IOC decision triggered public outrage across Romania where gymnastics has been a favourite sport since Nadia Comaneci got the first perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

Raducan has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the IOC's decision and awaits a ruling on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Romania's physicians' association (CMR) said it would launch an inquiry into Ioachim Oana, the doctor who recommended the medicine to Raducan.

"He made a capital mistake with a huge impact, mainly on the spirit of this child," CMR president Mircea Cinteza told independent Mediafax agency."If found responsible, he might be stripped of his right to practise," Cinteza added.

The IOC expelled Oana from the Sydney Games and banned him from the 2002 Winter and 2004 Summer Olympics.



(c) Reuters Limited.