The world’s fastest man Usain ‘Lightning’ Bolt says he harbors no fear of losing further relay medals should future tests reveal doping violations by teammates.
Bolt, former world record holder Asafa Powell and Michael Frater were stripped of their 2008 Olympic 4x100m relay gold medal when first leg runner Nesta Carter tested positive for methylhexaneamine after samples were re-tested.
Bolt’s Olympic medal tally was reduced to eight instead of nine as a result, robbing him of the famous triple-triple accolade in the process.
The medals lost could, however, be quite significant for the global icon should Carter’s samples fail to pass the future re-tests.
Carter was the starter in the 2012 Olympic Games relay team and 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championship teams. The 31-year-old Carter has since appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).
“Even if I lose all my relay gold medals, for me, I did what I had to do, my personal goals,” Bolt said in a recent CNN interview.
The sprinter has ruled out an appearance at the 2022 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
“Maybe if it had come before the Olympics, maybe it would have taken away a little from me, and then I would have thought about it, but the fact that I got the chance to say, ‘the triple-triple,’ kind of made me feel good,” he said.
