Natalia Mărășescu

Natalia Mărășescu

Personal information
Born	3 October 1952 (age 64) Căpreni, Romania[1]
Height	166 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight	52 kg (115 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	1500 m, 3000 m
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	1500 m – 3:58.2 (1979) 3000 m – 8:33.53 (1978)[2]
Medal record Representing  Romania European Championships 1978 Prague 1500 m 1978 Prague 3000 m European Indoor Championships 1975 Katowice 1500 m 1976 Munich 1500 m 1978 Milan 1500 m 1979 Vienna 1500 m Universiade 1977 Sofia 1500 m 1979 Mexico City 1500 m

Natalia Mărăşescu (née Andrei on 3 October 1952) is a retired Romanian middle distance runner who specialized mainly in the 1500 metres. She competed in this event at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics and placed ninth in 1980.^[1]

Biography

Mărăşescu set two world records over the mile; 4:23.8 minutes on 21 May 1977 in Bucharest, and 4:22.09 minutes on 27 January 1979 in Auckland. The record was broken by Mary Slaney won ran in 4:21.68 minutes a year later in the same city. The current record is 4:12.56. She briefly held the record in 5000 metres, with 15:41.4 minutes. This record lasted less than four months before being broken by Jan Merrill.

Doping ban

Mărăşescu was banned for taking anabolic steroids in 1979 for 18 months.^[3][4] After 8 months Mărăşescu was reinstated^[5] after IAAF President Adriaan Paulen of the Netherlands said that an 18-month suspension in the steroid case would have kept the women out of the Moscow Olympics, which would have constituted "an extra penalty." He said that the IAAF Council had therefore reinstated them for "humane reasons."

References

1. Natalia Mărășescu. sports-reference.com
2. Natalia Mărășescu profile at IAAF
3. 7 women fail dope test, The Deseret News, 25 October 1979
4. Scorecard. In: Sports Illustrated. 31 Märch 1980
5. Olympic Review: Within the IFs (PDF; 386 kB). 1980