Reigning World vault and floor champion Marian Dragulescu has been issued a "severe" warning by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) for failing to comply with doping controls in a move the federation deemed "fatal negligence," in a press release late Tuesday.
Dragulescu's crime was "failing to comply with the procedures governing the fight against doping," according to the release. "Three indictments were filed against the gymnast, namely concerning violation of a rule stipulating that a gymnast must announce his return to competition after a retirement, and a communication made regarding Marian Dragulescu by his national federation on Dec. 30, 2008.
"Because of his failure to comply with this rule, Dragulescu was not taken into account for out of competition testing since he was not on the 2009 FIG RTP (Registered Testing Pool) official list."
In plain English: Dragulescu didn't announce his 2009 comeback early enough to undergo the appropriate doping controls before the 2009 World Championships, and has missed a couple controls so far this year as well.
When a gymnast retires then decides he or she wants to un-retire, they have to make some sort of "I'm training again" declaration in order to be put in a doping pool for six months before competing again. This ensures that the FIG can test to see they haven't been taking steroids or other banned substances during retirement.
Dragulescu retired and coached briefly in Romania after the 2008 Olympics before popping up somewhat unexpectedly and winning two events at the 2009 World Championships in London.
Dragulescu has incurred the ire of the FIG because the "commission has found little or no whereabouts information for the first three trimesters of 2010," although he did show up to testify before the FIG's disciplinary panel on July 30.
The FIG has also slapped the wrist of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation, accusing "willful negligence" and "failure to uphold its educational role in the fight against doping." The Romanian Federation will be charged a fee of about $6,000 for the FIG's trouble.
Dragulescu, 29, is now on a kind of probation -- should he do anything else untoward, the FIG will ban him from competition for two years.
My question: Why is all this coming up now? If he didn't have enough doping controls between the time he announced his return and the World Championships, why was he allowed to compete there last year?
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