Olympic boxing medalist Suriya banned for doping
BANGKOK, Thailand — Olympic bronze medalist Suriya Prasathinphimai has been suspended for one year by Thailand’s boxing authorities after a positive doping test.
Suriya won bronze in the middleweight division at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
He tested positive during last year’s Southeast Asian Games, when he won gold in the 75-kilogram division. Suriya, 28, was stripped of that gold after testing positive.
General Taweep Jantararoj, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand, was quoted in the Bangkok Post newspaper Thursday saying that Suriya claimed his innocence but ABAT had no choice but to enforce a ban.
Suriya was one of five SEA Games medalists to be stripped of their medals after positive doping tests.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press