Bolt no longer on cloud nine

Jamaican sprinter sees Olympic gold medal total cut from nine to eight following disqualification of 4x100 relay at Beijing Games when teammate Carter tests positive for methylhexaneamine

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Usain Bolt’s career total of nine Olympic gold medals has been reduced to eight after Jamaica was disqualified and stripped of its victory in the 4x100-meter relay in the 2008 Beijing Games when it was discovered Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned stimulant.

The International Olympic Committee confirmed Wednesday that Carter’s sample tested positive for methylhexaneamine, an energy-boosting ingredient used in many dietary supplements. It has been on the prohibited stimulant list of the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2004, although it was specifically reclassified in 2011.

Although the stimulant was not included on the 2008 list of banned substances, a three-member IOC panel wrote that methylhexaneamine, “fell within the scope of the general prohibition of stimulants having a similar chemical structure or similar biological effect as the listed stimulants.”

Bolt and Carter were teammates on the relay with Michael Frater and Asafa Powell, setting a world record in the race by clocking 37.10, which the Jamaicans then lowered to 36.84 at the London Olympics.

Carter also ran with Bolt in London, as well as World Championships in 2011, 2013 and 2015, but there has been no accusations of doping violations during any of those global competitions.

Should the decision stand and Carter’s appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport be denied, Trinidad and Tobago would be upgraded from silver to gold, Japan would now be silver medalists and Brazil would secure bronze medals.

Carter’s name first appeared on a provisional list of athletes during the summer whose blood and urine samples failed when re-tested using the latest scientific techniques to prepare for the Rio Olympics.

Several other Jamaican athletes have also tested positive for methylhexaneamine, with the punishment including a ban of as much as one year. Fellow Jamaicans Veronica Campbell-Brown, Sherone Simpson and Powell all failed drug tests in 2013.

In an interview with The Telegraph during the summer, Bolt said, “Things happen in life, so when it’s confirmed or whatever, if I need to give back my gold medal, I’d have to give it back, it’s not a problem for me.

“It’s heartbreaking because over the years you’ve worked hard to accumulate gold medals and work hard to be a champion … but it’s just one of those things.”

Behind Bolt, every other male sprinter to clock under 9.79 seconds – Tyson Gay, Yohan Blake, Justin Gatlin, Powell and Carter – has served a drug-related suspension at some point during his career.

The IOC also announced Wednesday it stripped Russian Tatyana Lebedeva of her long jump and triple jump silver medals from Beijing after further analysis of her blood and urine samples tested positive for the steroid for turinabol. Lebedeva also captured long jump gold in 2004 in Athens and triple jump silver in 2000 in Sydney.