Andrea Redukan stunned the world of gymnastics with her performance at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but her joy was ended when the IOC announced that she had tested positive for pseudoephedrine and had her gold medal stripped. After a 22-year gap, a new doping scandal is making headlines in the world of sport after Simona Halep was suspended for testing positive for roxadustat.

Andreia Radukan, message in Simona Halep’s doping case: “Each member of a sports team has a clearly defined role”

Having reached the age of 39, Redukan talked about a difficult moment that she experienced and that changed her life. The former gymnast said that each member of the team has his own responsibilities, and believes that the athlete should not be responsible for the substances he uses.

“Dear friends,

There are situations in life when it is wiser to remain silent. Over the past few days, I’ve been asked multiple times about my opinion on the unfortunate situation Simona Halep has found herself in after testing positive. People think that all doping cases are the same or that everything follows a pattern. Nothing more bad! Each case has its own characteristics and should be treated as such.

A similar situation was in the case of the 16-year-old figure skater from Russia Kamila Valieva, when the international press asked me to comment on the situation of this athlete. I said it then, I say it again now: I can at any moment, with all the details, tell about my case, which is truly unique. It was an unprecedented fact that deeply affected both me and those who supported me at the competition. Here, 22 years after the sad incident when I was stripped of the title of Olympic individual champion because of a cold pill, we are still talking about this injustice.

Sometimes in life you can pay for other people’s mistakes or even for their ego. This is exactly what I felt in Sydney, where the members of the commission that examined my case admitted that it was not doping, but simply a medical error. Pseudoephedrine (a derivative of ephedrine) is found in all cold and flu medications.

I would like you to note 2 important details about my case: 1 – Pseudoephedrine DOES NOT ENHANCE ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. Translated, I didn’t win an Olympic medal because of it, and 2 – PSEUDOEPHEDRINE IS NOT BANNED BY THE INTERNATIONAL GYMNASTIC FEDERATION OR THE IOC LIST. But in the list of the IOC, it was allowed in a very small amount. Why exactly this amount? I don’t think anyone knows for sure because no research was done before it was banned in that amount. Let’s not forget that then I weighed only 37 kg. Probably, if I weighed at least 40 kg, the concentration of drugs received immediately before the competition would not exceed the permissible norm. As most of you probably already know, pseudoephedrine was later removed from the banned substance list.

I know that today an athlete must be responsible for what is in his body. And that’s understandable. But still, I think the athlete has a different purpose in this equation. And not because I didn’t understand anything after my case, but because I could never claim to know more than a doctor or a biochemist. In conclusion, I believe that each member of a sports team has a clearly defined role that he must fulfill to the end for the common goal of victory.

I conclude my message by wishing Simona much courage and wisdom to overcome this extremely delicate moment. I wish them to find the most acceptable solution. No one will take away from him the earned titles or enormous talent. I would be happy if he can overcome this incident and continue his career. She is and will remain a great athlete. Head up, Simona!

PS The attached photo was taken in Sydney and depicts a moment of hopelessness and immense disappointment that I experienced” – Andrey Redukan on Facebook.

Andrey Redukan and Nurofen, who stood on the way to fame

At just 16 years old, Andrea stunned the gymnastics world with her evolution in Sydney during the Summer Olympics.

The individual competition from the territory of Australia brought a fantastic result for Romania: Andrea Raducan, Simona Amanar and Maria Olaru were on the podium (gold/silver/bronze).

The fantastic joy was interrupted by a statement from the IOC (International Olympic Committee): Andreja Redukan tested positive for pseudoephedrine, a substance banned at the time, which Romanian officials said was found in the Nurofen pill taken by the gymnast. – on the advice of a therapist to treat a cold.

The work of the 16-year-old girl was wasted, and the gold medal was taken away from our athlete.

At those Olympics, Andrea Redukan won a gold medal in the team event and a silver medal in the vault.

Although the investigation showed Andrea’s innocence, the TAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) decided that anti-doping regulations must be followed, and the gymnast from Romania was left without such an important medal.

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