Natalia Mărăşescu (née Andrei on 3 October 1952) is a retired Romanianmiddle 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 4:12.33. [1] She briefly held the record in the 5000 metres, with 15:41.4 minutes. This record lasted less than four months before being broken by Jan Merrill. [2]
Doping ban
Mărăşescu was banned 18 months for taking anabolic steroids in 1979.[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[4] 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."
