Olympic 1500m champion Ramzi in positive drugs test

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 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 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.

Ramzi will arrive to witness the opening of the B test, likely to be on May 8, in France, Sheikh Ahmed said.

"We have informed Rashid Ramzi that the test was positive, and we are going to meet him in a few days," he added.

"We are sorry to hear this news. The NOC of Bahrain can confirm its support to the athlete, who has the full right to open the B test and the right to be listened to, to defend himself.

"We will cooperate fully with the IOC on the subject and if the second test is positive we'll decide what to do then. "Ramzi underwent eight tests before and during the Olympic Games, and all results were negative." Ramzi, who gained Bahraini citizenship in 2002 after joining the country's armed forces a year earlier, 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 New Zealander Peter Snell in 1964.

World athletics' governing body, the IAAF, also confirmed on Wednesday that it had been advised by the IOC that three athletes had returned positive tests for MIRCERA following re-analysis of samples taken by the IOC in Beijing.

The IAAF said it understood that the relevant NOCs had been notified, but stressed that the cases remained confidential for the time being.

"The usual results management procedures for samples taken during the period of the Olympic Games will now apply including the option for all athletes to have their B samples tested," the IAAF said. "The IAAF must wait for further details from the IOC before considering any provisional suspension of the athletes and a decision is not expected within the next week." MANAMA, AFP