“…a long beautiful road filled with sacrifices, hard work, unforgettable moments, tears of joy and many many medals.” Andreea Raducan
Talking about Romanian definitely means talking about the most famous sport from this country: gymnastics. Everywhere in the world this sport has a single defining name: Nadia. Yes, Nadia Comaneci, the first gymnast ever to receive a perfect 10.00 and not only once, but seven times.
Romania`s fame and history in gymnastics is more than a century old and a lot of stories were written with hard work, tears and medals. Maybe the most famous, after Nadia`s first 10 score is Andreea Raducan`s and what happened at the Olympics of 2000 in Sydney Australia.
After becoming the best gymnasts in the world, having competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where she contributed strongly to the Romanian team’s gold medal and won an individual silver medal on the vault. She was also the original winner of the all-round 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, at the time a banned substance. The substance came from a simple cold pill, given by the team`s physician and it did not help her to improve her performance in any way.
The case generated a significant amount of media attention from all over the world, and Răducan was supported by members of the gymnastics community and the public. Her case was brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in fall 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. But her medal and title of the world`s best gymnast was not reinstated.
The autobiography Andreea wrote – “The other side of the medal” – talks about a life full of sacrifices, joy and tears, restrictions and hard work and everything else a true professional sport dedicated person must have and the extreme happiness that winning a competition will bring. Also, she talks about the small step from the ecstasy to agony she took in 2000, at Sydney and how the moved on and demonstrated once again she is a champion.
You can order the book from http://andreearaducan.com and have it sign by the gymnast herself.
