Why was Usain Bolt's Beijing Olympic relay medal revoked? All about the incident that shattered his three medal win streak

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Jul 22, 2024 03:01 GMT

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Usain Bolt is synonymous with Olympic glory. He began as an amateur sprinter who failed to proceed beyond the semifinals at the Athens Olympics in 2004 but soon turned into one of the greatest track and field athletes of all time. 100m, 200m, you name it, and Usain Bolt broke every record imaginable.

Usain Bolt has won almost 8 out of every 10 races that he ran throughout his career. He has 8 Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championships gold medals to his credit. However, there is one race which, despite the best of efforts, is never remembered for the records it made, but for the one blunder that cost the entire Jamaican team their Olympic gold medal.

The race with Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, Nesta Carter, and Michael Frater that shattered records in Beijing

It all began at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Usain Bolt had become the talk of the town after winning the gold medal in 100m and 200m with world record timings. But, it remained to be seen whether he would join the men's 4x100m relay squad or not.

The world record at that time for this event was 37.4 seconds, set jointly by two relay teams from the USA in 1992 & 1993 respectively.

Usain Bolt running towards a world record [Image for Representational Purposes] [Image Source: Getty]

Jamaica somehow managed to qualify for the finals, with a team of sprinters comprising Dwight Thomas, Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell. The team clocked 38.31 seconds to qualify for the finals of the 4x100m relay, and Dwight Thomas was replaced by Usain Bolt.

Nesta Carter had run the first leg of the relay, followed by Michael Frater, Usain Bolt, and subsequently Asafa Powell, and the team won the gold medal in style, breaking the 15-year-old world record in style. The Jamaican team clocked 37.1 seconds, which they further improved upon at the 2011 World Championships and London Olympics 2012 respectively.

The 'drug test' that stripped Usain Bolt of his gold medal.

However, a blunder by one teammate denied Usain Bolt of three consecutive Olympic 'triples' [i.e. gold medals in 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay]. In 2017, Nesta Carter failed the mandatory drug tests. He was found guilty of using banned substances like methylhexaneamine during the year 2008.

Nesta Carter [Extreme Left], the man who spoiled it all [Image Source: Getty]

Consequently, the International Olympic Committee ordered the IAAF to revise the results and disqualify Jamaica altogether. So, for Nesta Carter's blunder, Usain Bolt and the other sprinters had to let go of the Olympic gold medal from their relay event at the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Carter's appeal was dismissed, and Jamaica was stripped of the 4x100m relay gold medals. Trinidad and Tobago, who had originally won the silver medal, got the gold medal, while Japan and Brazil, who had finished third & fourth respectively, received the silver and bronze medals for the same.