The baddest and fastest sprinter ever, Jamaican legend Usain Bolt, was stripped of one of his nine Olympic gold medals today due to a positive doping test by teammate Nesta Carter.
Carter competed with Bolt in the 4×100 relay at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. A reanalysis of Carters samples from the games found methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant.
Bolt had achieved the triple treble, winning the 100m, 200m and 4×100 relay at each of the three Olympics in which he participated, an accomplishment unmatched by any other Olympian.
Carter was also on Jamaicas gold medal-winning 4×100 team at the 2012 Olympics in London. It remains to be seen if other positive tests will affect Bolt’s overall medal countfor his Olympic career
Bolt has said that the 2016 Olympics would be his last and that he will retire after the world championships this summer.
Carter and Bolt were teammates on the winning 4×100-meter relay team, which also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell.
“The Jamaican team is disqualified,” the IOC said in a statement. “… the corresponding medals, medalist pins and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.”
The relay title in Beijing completed the first of Bolt’s three gold medal sweeps in the 100, 200 and relay at three straight Olympics.
Trinidad and Tobago is in line to get the gold medal from 2008, Japan could be upgraded to silver, and fourth-place finisher Brazil could get the bronze medal.
Though methylhexaneamine was not specifically named on the 2008 list of prohibited substances, it “fell within the scope of the general prohibition of stimulants having a similar chemical structure or similar biological effect as the listed stimulants,” the three-member IOC panel wrote.
Carter can appeal the sanction to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
