Usain Bolt loses relay medal in doping case, ruining perfect string of Olympic golds
Usain Bolt’s string of “triple gold” perfection in the Olympics has come to an end — and it’s not his fault.
“The Fastest Man Alive” was flawless in the Summer Games, winning gold medals in the 100-meters, the 200-meters and the 4×100-meter relay at three consecutive Olympics (2008, 2012 and 2016).
But one of his Jamaican teammates — sprinter Nesta Carter — was retroactively disqualified from the 2008 relay in Beijing because of a positive doping test that wasn’t discovered until eight years later.
The International Olympic Committee re-examined the Bejing samples in 2016, and Carter tested positive for the stimulant methylhexaneamine.
Jamaica was stripped of its relay title.
Why is everyone stripped of their medals because of the stupidity of one teammate #UsainBolt
— JayD (@DeezMets) May 31, 2018
Carter took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, but the judging panel dismissed his appeal Thursday.
The panel said it “could not accept any of the arguments raised by Nesta Carter contending that the test results should be ignored or the IOC (disciplinary) decision should otherwise be overturned for certain alleged failures.”
Jamaica had a world-record time of 37.10 seconds in Beijing as Carter ran the opening leg and Bolt took the baton third. Their teammates were Michael Frater and Asafa Powell.
The 2008 gold medal will now go to Trinidad and Tobago, with Japan being upgraded to silver and Brazil to bronze.
The IOC reanalysis program, which uses new and more accurate tests on samples stored since the 2008 and 2012 Games, has resulted in dozens of positive tests for banned substances and numerous athlete disqualifications.
This is the only one involving Jamaica.
Bolt discussed Carter’s case with the BBC in 2017, saying, “I am not happy about it.”
However, he said, “I have no power over this anymore. You can’t get too angry about something that you can’t really change.”
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