Ramzi stripped of Olympic gold for doping

Olympic 1500m gold medallist Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain has been stripped of his medal from the 2008 Beijing Games for doping infractions. The International Olympic Committee disqualified the Moroccan-born middle-distance runner after a positive retroactive test in April for the drug CERA, an advanced version of performance-boosting EPO. Ramzi had won Bahrain its first track and field gold.

Kenya’s Asbel Kipruto Kiprop will be upgraded from silver to gold for the 1500m, while Nicolas Willis of New Zealand will be bumped up to silver from bronze and fourth-place finisher Mehdi Baala of France will jump into the medals with a bronze.

IAAF vice-president Seb Coe, who himself won two 1500m golds in 1980 and 1984, praised the decision. “Cheats cannot prosper in our sport and people will realize that sooner or later,” Coe told The Associated Press.

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