He achieved his personal best just before Sydney Olympics, running 1'43"74 in Rieti in September 2000, reaching the second place in the all-time ranking in Italy, behind former world record holder Marcello Fiasconaro. He was disqualified from the
800 metres final at the
2000 Summer Olympics after barging Switzerland's
André Bucher. He served a two-year ban from 2001 for testing positive for
nandrolone. After his ban his best performances have been a 5th place at the
2003 World Championships and a 7th place at the
2006 European Athletics Championships, both in the 800m. He was also a semi-finalist at the
2004 Olympics. He was the European record holder for the rarely run 600m (1'14"41). He is the husband of
Fabé Dia. ==Achievements==