SEYCHELLOIS weightlifter Charles Siméon will have to stay away from all local and international competitions after tests on his 'B' sample also revealed that he had used a performance-enhancing drug.

The two-year ban, which was originally imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) after the first test, was confirmed by the international body when the  second test on Siméon's 'B' sample on July 24 at a Madrid laboratory returned positive.

Siméon, it is to be noted, tested positive for metenolone – an anabolic steroid – after competing in the African Weightlifting Championship in Nairobi, Kenya, last May.

Siméon, a triple gold medallist – snatch (100kg), clean and jerk (135kg) and total (235kg) – in the junior category of the 69-kg division and winner of two silver medals (clean and jerk as well as total) and a bronze (snatch) in the senior category, was stripped of all the medals he won at the competition.

The 19-year-old will only be allowed back into competition on May 2, 2004.

It is also worth noting that Siméon, the first Seychellois sportsman or woman to fail a drugs test, learned of his positive test while in South Africa on a training camp along with fellow lifters Janet Thélermont, Steven Baccus and Frank Accouche who were preparing for the just-ended XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.

His name was immediately taken off the Seychelles weightlifting team for the quadrennial Games.

The Seychelles Weightlifting Association (SWA) has also been fined $1,000 and will have to pay $200 for the first test on the 'A' sample and another $400 for the second test on the 'B' sample.