The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday stripped Jamaica of the gold medal that it won in the 4x100 metre relay race in the 2008 Beijing Olympics after athlete Nesta Carter failed a doping test, reported AFP. This means that sprinter Usain Bolt (pictured above) now has eight Olympic gold medals and no longer holds the record of having won triple gold in three consecutive Games.
The 2008 Jamaican relay race team included Bolt, Carter, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater. Carter tested positive for the banned methylhexanamine.
The IOC had collected 454 samples from the Beijing Games for re-testing. The disciplinary committee of Denis Oswald, Gunilla Lindberg and Ugur Erdener ruled that since one member of the team tested positive, the entire team will be disqualified.
The World Anti-Doping Agency had banned methylhexanamine in 2004. It used to be sold as a nasal decongestant in United States till 1983. Later, methylhexanamine has been used as an ingredient in dietary supplements.
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