MADRID Spaniards affectionately call him "Juanito" but it increasingly looks like he may now go to back to just plain Johann.

Johann Muehlegg, who had one of his three gold medals at the Winter Olympics stripped after testing positive for a new blood-boosting super drug, has rapidly fallen from grace in his adopted country.

Inevitably the news of his doping offense sheds a very different light on his remarkable successes since becoming a naturalized Spaniard in November 1999.

Three years ago, after a decade of intermittent success on the international circuit and a series of high-profile squabbles with the German federation, the former double world junior champion decided he would never again compete for his native country.

German media reported that Muehlegg had increasingly come under the influence of a Portuguese cleaning lady-turned Clairvoyant, Justina Agostinho before his final split with his team.

At the 1995 world championships in Thunder Bay, Canada, he even claimed the German National Coach Georg Zipfel had put a curse on his isotonic drinks.

Several more squabbles followed before he finally abandoned his homeland, including one in which he famously accused one of his teammates of spiritual persecution in an attempt to undermine his performances, Reuters reported.

The tall blond-haired Bavarian briefly toyed with the idea of applying for Italian nationality, but his friendship with several members of the Spanish ski team finally persuaded him to opt for Spain instead.