1,500m Olympic Medallist Ramzi Stripped of Gold for Drugs
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Runner one of five athletes from Beijing Games to test positive for CERA.
Olympic officials have continued their zero tolerance policy on performance enhancing drugs as they today announced that five athletes from the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games would be banned from their respective sports after failing drugs tests.
Most prominent among them was Rashid Ramzi, the only Olympic gold medallist from the Beijing Games to have his medal honours struck from Olympic records. The Moroccan-born athlete tested positive for the banned substance CERA, after winning Bahrain’s first ever gold medal in the 1,500 metre running discipline.
Silver medallist in the cycling road race, Italian Davide Rebellin also tested positive for CERA and had his medal stripped also. The three other athletes, Stefan Schumacher of Germany, Vanja Perisic of Croatia and Athanasia Tsoumeleka of Greece did not win medals, but also tested positive and face two-year sporting bans.
Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (CERA) or Mircera as it is also known, is an advanced third generation drug of EPO. CERA stimulates the kidneys to produce more red blood cells in the bone marrow, which allow athletes to carry more oxygen in their bloodstream, pushing endurance further.
Both Ramzi and Rebellin tested positive for CERA in April after retroactive blood samples were tested by the International Association of Athletics. Under rules and regulations adhered to by the Olympic committee, both athletes will be banned for the London 2012 Games, even though their ban could be served in time for the next games.
As a result of the doping discovery, Kenya’s 1,500 runner Asbel Kipruto Kiprop could have his silver medal upgraded to gold. Bronze medallist Nicolas Willis of New Zealand stands to have an upgrade from bronze to silver. Fourth placed Mehdi Baala of France could be awarded bronze.
Rashid Ramzi said he would appeal the decision protesting his innocence.
