Olympic 1500m champion Ramzi in positive drugs test

MANAMA: Reigning men's 1500m Olympic champion Rashid Ramzi has tested positive for a new form of banned blood booster EPO named MIRCERA, the Bahraini National Olympic Committee announced yesterday.

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 on done on their athlete, Rashid Ramzi, winner of Olympic 1500m gold, was positive for MIRCERA".

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.