BRIDGEPORT — The drug test came back positive.

Sadam Ali was stunned. Positive? It couldn't be. The news hammered Ali harder than any punch ever could. Just like that, his chance at Olympic glory was about to disappear. Positive? It just couldn't be.

Not for Sadam Ali. The kid is just 19 years old. Boxing is his life. He said he doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He was on track to become the first New York boxer since Riddick Bowe 20 years ago to make the Olympic team.

Now this. A positive drug test. Poof. Dream gone.

Ali had boxed in a test event in Beijing, China, last November and came down with bronchitis during the trip. USA trainer Frank Filiberto gave Ali some antibiotics, cough medicine and antihistamines. Everything was supposed to be fine.

It wasn't.

Ali's test came back showing a positive result for cathine, a banned stimulant related to amphetamines. Filiberto felt that the combination of medicines he'd given Ali produced the result. But as far as the International Amateur Boxing Association was concerned, positive was positive.

Suddenly, Ali was facing a possible three-year suspension. Goodbye, Olympics. Goodbye, dream.

"I was shocked because that was something that was completely out of my mind. I knew that I hadn't taken anything and I wouldn't ever take anything that I'm not supposed to," Ali said Wednesday via telephone during a layover in Dallas on his way to Bridgeport for today's weigh-in at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Ali is part

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of the U.S. contingent for Friday night's USA Boxing Olympic Invitational at the Arena.

"I was scared because I thought my dream was going to be taken away. I just tried to stay focused and not let it stress me too much."

But Ali couldn't stay focused. The stress was overwhelming. Ali put himself on voluntary suspension on Nov. 22 and went back to the Olympic Training Facility in Colorado Springs, Colo. His father, David Ali, hired a lawyer. Ali was even willing to take a lie detector test to try and clear his name. He knew he was clean. USA Boxing knew he was clean. But the cathine was there in the test results. While the lawyers worked behind closed doors, all Ali could do was wait.

"It was hard but my dad was there to let me know that everything was going to be all right, so I felt all right," he said.

Finally, a deal was offered. The IABA would suspend him for three months, dating back to his original Nov. 22 date. That would allow Ali to fight in the March qualifying tournament in Trinidad and Tobago. "I was kind of upset about that, because I felt like I was pleading guilty for something I didn't do," he said. "But if I didn't do it, I wouldn't have been able to go to qualifying, so I decided I would just bite down and take the hit so I could try and continue my dream."

On March 17, Sadam Ali's dream came true.

The lightweight boxer pounded Juan Nicolas Cuellar of Argentina, earning a mandatory stoppage early in the third round of his semifinal bout to clinch a place on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. It was a bout that saw the frustration of the last five months come flooding out of Ali. He attacked Cuellar from the opening bell, opening up a commanding 22-2 lead before the referee finally stopped the fight.

"There was no way I wasn't going to qualify," Ali said. "I had gone through too much not to make the Olympics. When I did, it felt great. It took a lot of pressure off my chest. I finally feel like a true Olympian."

Since first climbing into the ring at age 8, Ali has consistently climbed up the boxing ranks. He is a two-time PAL national champion, a two-time national Golden Gloves champion and the Under-19 national champion. He can move and jab and punch with the strongest of them.

"I'm a smart fighter because I do what it takes to win," he said. "If I have to bounce around and move and score points, then I'll do that. If I have to come in and get you to win, I'll do that, too. You never know what's coming at you."

And the rest of the world may not know what's coming at them, either. "If we fight like we're supposed to and do what we're capable of doing, we're going to come back with a lot of medals," Ali said.

What color?

"Hopefully, all gold," he said.

 Boxing card

USA Boxing Olympic Invitational Rosters

UNITED STATES
106-Luis Yanez, Duncanville, Texas (2008 Olympian)119 - David Clark, San Diego, Calif.
125-Gary Russell Jr., Capitol Heights, Md. (2008 Olympian)132-Sadam Ali, Brooklyn, N.Y. (2008 Olympian)
141-Javier Molina, Commerce, Calif., (2008 Olympian)
152-Demetrius Andrade, Providence, R.I., (2008 Olympian)
178-Lionell Thompson, Buffalo, N.Y.
201-Deontay Wilder, Tuscaloosa, Ala., (2008 Olympian)
201-plus-Trevor Bryan, Albany, N.Y.

CHINA
141-Qiong Maimaitituersun (2008 Olympian)
152-Silamu Hanati (2008 Olympian)
201-Abulikemu Abudurehemen
201-plus-Yushan Nijiati (2008 Olympian)

BRAZIL
106-Paulo Caravalho (2008 Olympian)
119-Robenilson Jesus (2008 Olympian
125-Robson Conceicao (2008 Olympian)
132-Everton Lopes (2008 Olympian)
178-Washington Silva (2008 Olympian)

NATIONAL FEATURE BOUT
165-Shawn Porter, Stow, Ohio, vs. Luis Arias, Milwaukee