Olympic chiefs have refused to soften their intense war against doping in sport, shutting out a wave of sympathy for tiny gymnast Andreea Raducan who has been stripped of a gold medal for taking a head-cold tablet.

As IOC officials admitted the tiny 16-year-old was the victim of an accident and gained no benefit from the pills, they stuck to a firm "rules are rules" line.

"This is one of the worst experiences I have had in my Olympic life," IOC executive board member Dr Jacques Rogge said.

"Having to strip the gold medal from the individual gymnastic champion for something she did not intentionally do is very tough. But the rules are the rules."

Rogge said he was also disappointed Raducan's team-mates Simona Amanar and Maria Olaru, who finished second and third, had returned their medals in protest over the decision to revoke Raducan's title.

The 1.48m and 37kg Raducan, the epitome of the pixie queens at Olympic gymnastics, was found to have traces of pseudoephedrine exceeding permitted levels when tested after she won her gold medal last Thursday.

The IOC accepted it was the fault of the Romanian team physician Ioachim Oana who mistakenly gave her two over-the-counter cold remedy tablets.

But IOC media director Francois Carrard said the Olympic movement could not allow sympathy to divert its anti-drugs campaign.

"No matter how sad this can be in an individual case ... the mere presence in an athlete of a prohibited substance constitutes doping and as such contains automatically the invalidation of the result," Carrard said.

"That's tough I know. Personally I can share the feelings of some people who think it's very tough. But that's the point, do we want to fight seriously doping?"

Sports champions and newspapers have been quick to defend the Romanian.

"The only mistake she made is trusting her doctor," said former world swimming champion Samantha Riley.

The Australia newspaper in a commentary said Raducan was an innocent victim of terrible circumstance "stripped of a gold medal and her good name ... and labelled a drug cheat" alongside US shot putter CJ Hunter who the IOC says tested positive for steroids four times this year.

Raducan, the first Romanian gymnast to win the all-around gold since her idol Nadia Comaneci in 1976, has filed an appeal against the IOC ruling with the Court of Arbitration for sport.

AFP