Stuttgart - Olympic 1,500 metres gold medallist Rashid Ramzi of Bahrain and Italian cycling road race silver medallist Davide Rebellin are among the athletes who tested positive for the latest generation of the blood booster CERA at a retest of samples from the Beijing Games, it was confirmed Wednesday. Ahmad Ben Hamad Al El Khalifa, deputy general secretary of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, told German Press Agency on Wednesday that the committee has been informed about Ramzi's positive test.

At the same time the Italian Olympic Committee CONI named Rebellin as a doping suspect.

If found guilty, both athletes face disqualification and will be stripped of their medals.

The retests of 948 samples, for CERA (847) and insulin (101), were carried out after a reliable test method for the substances was developed last autumn.(dpa)