FACTBOX-Doping-Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Factbox on Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi who on Wednesday was stripped of his Olympic 1,500 metres gold medal for doping at the 2008 Beijing Games.

- Born July 17, 1980 in Safi, Morocco.

* Early career:

- Won the silver medal for Morocco in the 1,500 metres at the African Junior Championships in 1999.

- He moved to Bahrain at the end of 2001 where he was offered a job in the military and later gained citizenship.

* Major achievements:

- In 2003 Ramzi won gold in the 1,500 metres at the Asian Championships before making his mark on the international scene with a silver medal at the world indoor championships in the 800 metres in 2004.

- Ramzi ended Hicham El Guerrouj's 29-race unbeaten record in the 1,500 metres in July 2004 making him one of the favourites for the Olympic title in Athens.

- He fell in his Olympic semi-final and finished 11th.

- In 2005 Ramzi completed an unprecedented middle distance double winning the 800 and 1,500 metres titles at the world championships in Helsinki.

- At the 2007 world championships in Osaka, he finished second behind Bernard Lagat in the 1,500.

- Ramzi won Bahrain's first Olympic medal when he beat Kenya's Asbel Kipruto Kiprop to take gold in the 1,500 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

* Doping violation:

- In April 2009, Bahrain's Olympic Committee announced Ramzi had failed a dope test from the Beijing Games for the banned blood-booster CERA, after frozen samples were re-tested specifically for that substance.

- The International Olympic Committee announced on Nov. 18 Ramzi was being stripped of his gold medal for anti-doping violations.

(Writing by Toby Davis, editing by Alison Wildey)