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.