"Do not trust any adult"

– that is the conclusion Andreea Raducan has drawn from the events in Sydney. Not suspecting anything, she swallowed the pills, which the Romanian team’s doctor had given her. Since the forbidden pseudoephedrin was an ingredient of these pills, her Gold medal in the all-round competition was recognized as valid, due to doping.

She is more careful right now, in order to avoid paying for the others’ mistakes. "I am not Andreea Raducan as she was then. Neither physical nor mental ", says she.

Back then, she was a child. She seemed small and fragile one year ago. Today she is a pretty young woman, with female forms, who is as attractive on the commercial of Jannsen&Fritsen as in her competition dress.

Some additional pounds completely changed her training and her routine structures.

Because of the injury risk", says Raducan’s coach Octavian Belu, also chief coach of the Romanian gymnasts, she concentrates on different elements than before. When a gymnast becomes older, the joints have to bear harder burdens. Therefore, she has to leave out some acrobatic parts and instead take in some athletic and dancing parts.

What makes the situation even more difficult, is the new Code depointage, which provides the opposite. "Especially at the uneven bars it has become very hard to get a high basis account ", says Andreea Raducan.

However, she has a 9,8 to offer there, at the vaulting table she can show up with two vaults of 9,8 and 9,6, the floor ranges between 9,9 and 10 and at the beam she has a clear 10- she hopes.

"The judges have a great range for the reduction of points, since they do not only evaluate the execution, but also security and original ideas", explains the Romanian star gymnast in Gent. "I hope to get the high scores."

Her most important wish for the World Championships in Gent already came true – to keep the team’s medal – the delight was huge.

And furthermore she wants to take home an individual medal "no matter what".
Of course, Raducan starts as the favourite in the all-round competition, even if she negates that by shaking her head.

Eventually, there is a lot that could happen during the competition. And on top of it, she has a light injury at the knee.

The preparations for the World Championships have been very hard anyway. New code, new routine, test competitions again and again. That the student of the sports college in Deva took this challenge, has to do with Sydney, of course. "At that time, I wanted to quit. But Sydney motivated me to continue." She was not as nervous as at the Olympic Games anymore and started the competitions with totally different emotions: "By now, I have experiences and feel much safer than before", says the 18-year-old confidently.

She wanted to share this feeling of security with her team-mates from the beginning on. "I have the leading part now", she says confidently. And, as we could see in the team final, she did that part perfectly.

Raducan turns the view towards the future anyway. She was over Sydney and tried to keep only the positive things in memory. After the World Championships she wanted to decide over her sportive future step by step. Her health and her accomplishments were the decisive factors for the duration of her active gymnastics career. "It is my goal to become better and better and to be able to start in Athens, since the events in Sydney were not my fault."

Interview: Reinhard Linder, Photos: Don Johnson
Translation: Janka Schmeißer

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