Usain Bolt Stripped of Olympic Gold Medal

Usain Bolt Stripped of Olympic Gold Medal
Usain Bolt Stripped of Olympic Gold Medal

Usain Bolt Stripped of Olympic Gold Medal

Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt has lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals and his perfect ‘triple treble’ of sprint victories after team mate Nesta Carter failed a drug test at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Carter, the sixth fastest 100m runner of all time, was undone after re-tests of his sample showed he’d taken the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Wednesday.

As a result, all four members of the Jamaican relay team – which also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell – have now been stripped of their medals from Beijing 2008, ruining Bolt’s perfect Olympic record of 100m, 200m and 4x100m triumphs from three Games.

Carter ran the first lap in the 4x100m in 2008

Carter’s lawyer, Stuart Stimpson, said the sprinter would lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“Mr. Carter will be taking his appeal to CAS,” Stimpson told Reuters on Wednesday.

Bolt, considered the greatest sprinter of all time, is now the only one of six sub-9.79 sec 100m runners not to have committed a doping violation following the turn of events for Carter.

His influence goes far beyond the tracks as he has successfully maintained a global interest in athletics at a time when the sport has been ravaged by doping scandals and widespread corruption.

He has yet to comment on the development, but speaking during the summer of 2016, the 30-year-old was philosophical about the prospect of losing a gold medal.

“It’s heartbreaking (the positive test) 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,” he said.

Bolt, 30, enjoys huge popularity in the sport

“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.”

Trinidad and Tobago are set to be promoted to gold in the Beijing 4×100, in which Jamaica set a then world record, with Japan moving up to silver and Brazil earning bronze.

Meanwhile, the IOC also stripped Russian Tatiana Lebedeva of her long jump and triple jump silver medals from the Beijing Games following positive tests for steroids.

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