Usain Bolt Loses One Of His Nine Gold Medals Over Jamaican Teammate’s Failed Drug Test
https://rumble.com/embed/vfeup/
Usain Bolt, one of the world’s biggest track stars, has one less Olympic gold medal today after Nesta Carter of the Jamaican relay team tested positive for a banned substance in the 2008 Olympics. Bolt now has eight medals instead of nine, and he must return the relay medal.
Bolt got an “unprecedented triple triple” for winning three gold medals in 2008, 2012, and 2016 in Rio. But in terms of endorsement deals, Usain Bolt is still up there with Michael Phelps and Simone Biles, says the Inquisitr. Not only will Bolt get paid for each medal he earned (there is no word about whether Bolt also has to return the cash for the medal in question), but he is considered a huge superstar in Jamaica and much of the rest of the world. Usain is currently one of the most recognized men in the Caribbean, if not the most recognized.
Usain Bolt stripped of 2008 Olympic relay gold after Nesta Carter fails drug test https://t.co/sHpkbsuMJS
— elaine roberts (@wetc87) January 25, 2017
CNN broke the story that Usain Bolt is down one medal after his Olympic relay teammate Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance, voiding the win for team Jamaica.
The members of the 4×4 team Bolt, Asafa Powell, Michael Frater, and Carter, a bronze medalist at the 2013 World Championships, will all lose their titles.
RELATED REPORTS BY THE INQUISITR
Which 2016 Rio Olympic Athletes Are Landing The Biggest…
What Is The Gold Medal Bonus Around The World For 2016 Rio Games
Olympic Athletes, Including Michael Phelps, Covered In Spots Are…
Olympics 2016: How Much Is A Gold Medal Really Worth? – The Inquisitr
The loss of this medal means that Usain Bolt is no longer the winner of the “triple-triple,” according to the New York Times. Nesta Carter initially tested negative back in 2008 after the race in Beijing, but the samples are kept by the IOC, and upon further testing, Carter’s sample was found to contain a prohibited stimulant, methylhexaneamine.
Usain Bolt es despojado de un Oro Olímpico por un caso de dopaje https://t.co/S8yz2DdYgW pic.twitter.com/ZHbLVhOqZI
— Jose A Contreras (@joseacontreras) January 25, 2017
Scrutiny was intensified over the last year that saw nearly an entire Russian team scratched from the Rio Olympics. Many medalists from Beijing and London were later found to have positive samples, and some of those will have to be stripped of their medals. In the case of Usain Bolt, he was not found guilty of doping, but because a member of his relay team was, he loses too. There is no word yet on whether Carter’s London medal is also at risk.
Upon receiving the news, Bolt commented that this was sad; not just for himself, but for the team. But even though he lost a medal, he was still gracious.
“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.If I need to give back my gold medal I’d have to give it back, it’s not a problem for me.”
But according to the Guardian, Usain Bolt says that of all his Olympic achievements, he can hold his head high.
“I feel good because I know I’ve done it clean.”
Nesta Carter’s sample was one of 454 frozen blood and urine samples from the 2008 Games retested by the International Olympic Committee last year, but it took until today for the IOC to confirm the news. The 31-year-old Olympic athlete has set a number of records for Jamaica, but a dark cloud is now being cast over his achievements.
The World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA, banned Methylhexanamine in 2004. When this particular substance is found, the normal punishment has been a six-month suspension, and the loss of medals won during the time of the positive test. Nesta Carter was not the only Olympic athlete with a positive test revealed today. Russian track and field star Tatiana Lebedeva has now tested positive in the 2008 games for the prohibited substance dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, a form of synthetic testosterone.
What do you think of the delay in finding positive doping results? Do you think Usain Bolt should lose his medal?
[Featured Image by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images]
