Usain Bolt Stripped Of 2008 Olympic Relay Gold Medal Because Teammate Doped

NY Times- Usain Bolt is no longer a triple-triple Olympic gold medalist. Bolt and the Jamaican team will be stripped of the 4×100 relay gold from the Beijing Games in 2008 because one of his teammates, Nesta Carter, was found guilty of a doping violation, the International Olympic Committee said Wednesday. Carter’s sample had been one of many retested by the I.O.C. last year. It was found to contain a prohibited substance, methylhexaneamine.

This kinda sucks. Not a ton, because I don’t think it affects Bolt’s legacy. It sucks because the Jamaicans could have rolled a paralyzed heroin junky down the track for the first leg and they still would have won. Take a look at this video of the race. Listen to the announcer’s voice change when Bolt gets the baton:

A lot of people don’t remember this race as it was completely overshadowed by Bolt’s 100m and 200m world record runs. But this is one of my favorite Bolt races of all time. The Australian announcer is in AWE of him. I still get chills when he says, “He’s got it in his hand… and he’s flying. Look at him go.” The tone in his voice completely changes; he knew what was going to happen and yet he’s still astonished. And then Bolt hands it to Powell who turns it into a 4th grade gym class relay, where all the bullies are on one team against a bunch of exchange students who belong in the computer lab. Look at this margin of victory:

Nesta Carter certainly wasn’t the only guy in this race on the sauce. But it’s still a shame considering how insignificant he was on the outcome. In that top picture, Carter looks like Cuba Gooding Jr in “Radio” next to Bolt.

Never go full simple, Nesta.