BOLT LOSES GOLD
IOC strips Jamaica of gold medal in 4x100 relay in Beijing Olympics after Nesta Carter fails in re-test Carter was a member of the goldmedal winning team in 2008, the first time Bolt won an Olympic treble
Usain Bolt has lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals because of a doping case involving Jamaican teammate Nesta Carter.
The IOC said Wednesday that Carter tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a banned stimulant, in re-analysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Olympic rules state that the entire relay team can be disqualified and stripped of medals if one runner fails a doping test.
Carter and Bolt were teammates on the winning 4x100-meter team, which set a world record of 37.10 seconds. Carter ran the opening leg, and Bolt took the baton third in a team that 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 the corresponding medals, medalist pins and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.”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 gold medal sweeps in the 100, 200 and relay at three straight Olympics.
Bolt set world record times for all three sprint titles at the Bird’s Nest, establishing himself as the defining superstar of Olympic track.
“I want to share it with my team,” said Bolt said after completing his hat trick in 2008. “It’s down to them that I beat the world record today. When you beat the relay world record, you feel four times happier.”
Bolt and Carter will retain their gold medals from Jamaica’s relay win at the 2012 London Olympics — in a record time of 36.84 seconds that stands today. Bolt ran the final leg on that team. He took the baton from Yohan Blake, who served a ban in 2009 for ingesting the same substance as Carter.
Carter and Bolt also helped lower their relay world record between the Olympic titles, taking gold at the 2011 world championships in Daegu, South Korea, in 37.04. /