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"Between a mistake & cheating"
ProSport: Mr. Belu, what conclusions could you draw after these Olympics?
Octavian Belu: The Romanian gymnastics team proved they are the best in the world.
PS: Could you comment on what happened to Andreea RÐducan?
OB: I can tell you there's a huge difference between a mistake and cheating. The IOC officials judged Andreea's case incorrectly, not to mention they took a huge risk. In general, children forget easily, on the other hand, us, adults, can never forget the injustices done (to us).
PS: What was the IOC risking?
OB: Well, first of all, we should have won at least one gold medal in the event finals. This never happened due to the immense pressure inside our team, once they announced us about Andreea's so called doping problem a few hours before the competition.
PS: And secondly?
OB: There could have been serious consequences. Andreea went up on floor completely demoralized. she missed winning a medal, but , because of the pressure, she might as well have missed a jump, and could have been seriously injured. We need to thank God things didn't turn out that way.
PS: How did the other teams react once they found out about Andreea's case?
OB: I noticed a gesture of fair play form China's Liu Xuan, who apparently did not pick up her bronze medal to show her support. the medal was hers after Andreea was disqualified. The evil comments, and probably the envy, came from Russia's team, who said, through one of their coaches that "Romania should have lots all their medals."
PS: Still, why do you think the IOc disagreed with you?
OB: We're a small country, who doesn't have any representatives on IOC's committee. When you don't know anyone there, you feel so small...
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