KINGSTON – Embattled Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter will return to the track this weekend in his first meeting since he was stripped of his Beijing Olympics gold medal after a retroactive test uncovered a banned substance in his sample.
Carter’s re-tested sample from 2008 was found to have traces of the banned stimulant methylhexaneamine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last month.
Jamaica’s 4×100 metres relay team that included Usain Bolt were stripped of their gold medals. Last year in Rio, Bolt completed a ‘treble treble’ of Olympic gold medals in winning the 100, 200 and 4×100 titles at three successive Games.
Bolt has already returned his Beijing relay medal.
Carter has said he would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The 31-year-old Carter, who has not raced competitively for 17 months due to injury and then because he was notified of the positive test, will run at the Western Relays in Montego Bay, his manager Bruce James told Reuters.
Carter has not been banned by world governing body the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and correspondence between Jamaican athletics authorities and the IAAF seen by Reuters confirmed he would be clear to run until his appeal had been heard.
“Having consulted the IAAF Medical and Anti-Doping Department, it appears that Mr Carter is not currently provisionally suspended,” IAAF chief executive Olivier Gers wrote in a letter in response to a query by Jamaican Athletics President Warren Blake.
“He is eligible to compete in athletics competition pending the CAS proceedings.”
Carter has until February 15 to file his appeal with CAS. (Reuters)
