Former 5-time Olympic Gold winner gymnast Nadia Comaneci shared a piece of advice to help Simona Halep get past the doping scandal she’s involved in. “I miss her, I hope she comes back soon and gets over this. She will be!
She should close the door, get on with her life and her career. Everyone misses her! We want Simona back on the tennis court. Waiting is hard! Let’s hope that she will be heard, that her words will count. Whatever the decision of the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Authority), she must look forward in her life and career.
I didn’t get to talk (to her), I sent her a message and encouraged her as much as I could,” said Nadia Comaneci, for Romanian publication ProSport.
Halep returned to training professionally
About a week ago, Simona Halep returned to the courts by training with top-50 Ukrainian player Marta Kostyuk at Mouratoglou’s complex in France.
See Halep on the court in this article: Simona Halep gets back to training on French courts. In a statement posted at the end of May, Halep said she is feeling disrespected by the way the ITIA have been operating their investigation about the doping scandal.
“Once again, tonight, I am devastated. The ITF (ITIA) has once again, for the third time postponed my hearing one month later! I am waiting to be judged since last October. In December, I have finally been able, thanks to experts, to show that the lot of the supplement I was using had been contaminated, which caused the positive control.
I have asked, as the rules of the anti-doping state it, for a quick hearing: this is my right, it is written in the rules! Unfortunately, the ITF (ITIA) has postponed my hearing three times. Denying me the right to be judged by an Independant Tribunal.
– Not allowing me to participate into any tournament for 8 months. Now I know that I will have missed the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Not to mention that I will have lost all my points and my ranking. Not only they are killing my reputation, but also me as a professional player, and I don’t even talk about the consequences on my mental health.
This disrespect of the rules by the ITF (ITIA) regarding the fast hearing I am entitled to have, is so disrespectful to me that I have no more words,” Halep said in a statement.
