TBILISI, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Georgian Olympic gold medalist judoka Irakli Tsirekidze has been given a three-month ban for testing positive of banned substance in his blood, local media reported on Monday.

The International Judo Federation has informed the Georgian Judo Association about the ban.

Irakli Tsirekidze won the men's 90kg event at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing of China.

The ban will stop the Georgian judoka from taking part in the European judo championships to be held in Moscow in April. But the Georgian national hero still has a chance for the London Olympics which will not start until July this year.

Irakli Tsirekidze is among five Georgians who have won gold medals at the Olympics, since the South Caucasus country takes part in the quandrennial games as an independent country. They have won two golds from men's judo, two from men's wrestling and one from men's weightlifting.

Georgia has also won two silver and 11 bronze medals from the Olympics since 1994.

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