Pubdate: Fri,  6 Oct 2000
Source: Blade, The (OH)
Copyright: 2000 The Blade
Contact:  541 North Superior St., Toledo OH 43660
Website: http://www.toledoblade.com/

SICK AND TIRED AT THE OLYMPICS

When the International Olympic Committee took back Andreea Raducana's gold 
medal because the team doctor gave her a cold remedy containing a tad of 
the forbidden substance ephedrine, it was as idiotic as it was unjust.

And it's proof that Draconian zero-tolerance regulations that brook no 
discretion in their application can be as unfair as those times when 
discretion is abused.

In the case of the 16-year-old Romanian gymnast, it is generally believed 
that the dreaded substance not only didn't enhance her performance,it could 
have impeded it. That's something the Court of Arbitration for Sport, to 
whom she appealed, preferred to overlook in the name of the current popular 
god of zero-tolerance.

The IOC gave this teenager a poignant lesson: Not only is the world not 
fair, but some people who hold responsible positions in it are not the 
brightest crayons in the box. She didn't understand. She was robbed.

Generally we've seen commitments to draconianism emerge in other surprising 
places - for instance, America's public schools.

There was the kid expelled for taking a weapon to school - a paring knife 
her mother had intended to take to work to deal with a piece of fruit 
before she inadvertently switched bags. The child didn't know it was there.

More recently in Georgia, a sixth grader was kicked out of school for 10 
days. Her crime: carrying a Tweety-bird wallet connected to her keys by a 
short length of - gasp! - chain. Whatever happened to a little common sense?

Andreea Raducan was wronged by her team doctor, the IOC, and its court of 
appeals. The doctor has been banned from the next two Olympics and he 
deserves scant sympathy. But his patient, whose reputation and prize were 
irreparably sacrificed by unclear rules and medical ignorance or 
disinterest, is paying the price.

The IOC must ponder, too, whether its zero-tolerance policy deprives 
athletes of needed medical care during events. Olympic athletes have to 
pray they don't get sick, or tough it out without medication if they do?

The zeal for pure competition is one thing. But something about the Andreea 
Raducan case doesna't mesh with the Olympic ideal.
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