Usain Bolt loses 2008 Olympic relay gold in Carter’s doping case

The IOC says ‘the Jamaican team is disqualified,’ and ‘the corresponding medals, medalist pins and diplomas are withdrawn and shall be returned.’

Carter ran the first leg for Jamaica’s 4x100m team when Bolt anchored them to a gold medal inside Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium at the Olympic Games where he announced himself as a sprinting superstar.

With Carter, 31, confirmed as a drugs cheat, all four men in the team lose their gold medal although there is no suggestion the others have done anything wrong.

Speaking last year, Bolt said the possibility of losing his medal was ‘heartbreaking’.

‘I’m not too pleased about the situation,’ Bolt said.

‘For years you’ve worked hard to accumulate gold medals and you work hard to be a champion, so it’s heartbreaking, but it’s one of those things

‘If I have to give back my gold medal, I’ll have to give it back.’

Trinidad & Tobago have now been awarded the 2008 relay gold, with Japan upgraded to silver and Brazil given bronze.

Carter testified by video conference to an IOC disciplinary hearing held in Lausanne on October 17.

The IOC’s ruling states that Carter noted he was taking supplements in 2008: ‘advised in this respect by his coach, Mr Stephen Francis.’

‘The athlete explained that he had given several samples for doping controls whilst he was taking Cell Tech and Nitro Tech before the 2008 Olympic Games and he had never tested positive for a prohibited substance,’ the detailed verdict stated.

‘He therefore did not believe that these supplements could contain prohibited substances. He did not understand how methylhexaneamine could have been found in 2016.’