MANAMA - Reigning men's 1500m Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi has tested positive for banned blood booster EPO Cera, the Bahraini National Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday.
Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad al-Khalifa, a member of Bahrain's NOC, said they had been informed by the International Olympic Committee that "the February 19, 2009 result of the test done on their athlete, Rashid Ramzi, winner of Olympic 1500m gold, was positive for CERA."
The Morocco-born Ramzi won the Gulf country's first ever Olympic medal when he stormed to victory in the 1500m in 3min 32.94sec.
Ramzi, who gained Bahraini citizenship in 2002 after joining the country's armed forces, shot to fame when he won the 800m and 1500m double at the 2005 World Athletics Championships in Helsinki, becoming the first man to do so at a global event since Peter Snell in 1964.
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