Usain Bolt stripped of gold medal after teammate tests positive for banned substance

Usain Bolt has been stripped of one of his nine Olympic gold medals after confirmation that one of his teammates at Beijing 2008 tested positive for a banned substance.

The Jamaican was one of the four athletes awarded gold after a win in the 4x100m men’s team relay at the 2008 Games, but the gold has now been rescinded following an announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that one of the teammates was found guilty of doping.

Nesta Carter was found in re-tests of his sample to have taken the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine. He previously told the IOC that he took two supplements in Beijing that were advised by his coach, and he has no idea how the banned substance did not show up in the original test. His legal team have announced that Carter will lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Bolt has not yet commented on the news, but he did say that he feared the worst once the traces were identified last year: “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. 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 is unlikely that the CAS case will overturn the ruling, meaning Bolt can no longer boast the triple-triple – gold medals for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay picked up at three successive Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016). The Trinidad and Tobago team will be promoted to gold, with Japan taking silver and Brazil the bronze.

As a result of the retests of 454 frozen blood and urine samples from the 2008 Games, using newer and more accurate tests, it was also announced that Russia’s Tatiana Lebedeva had been disqualified. She competed and came second in the women’s triple jump, and she took a further silver in the women’s long jump, but re-analysis resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone. She has already announced her intention to appeal the ruling.