CAS to make Carter ruling in 2018

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP):

Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter has testified at the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal against disqualification from the 2008 Olympics in a doping case that cost Usain Bolt a 4x100m relay gold medal.

Carter shielded his face from media on arriving at sport’s highest court on Wednesday for a closed-doors hearing that ended around seven hours later.

The court said lawyers for Carter and the International Olympic Committee would submit further documents to the judging panel, which was expected to reach a verdict early in 2018.

The 32-year-old Carter is challenging his disqualification imposed by the IOC for a positive test for a banned stimulant.

Carter tested positive for methylhexaneamine last year in a reanalysis programme of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

The case spoiled Bolt’s perfect Olympic record of three gold medals - in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m - at three consecutive Games from 2008 through 2016.

Carter and Bolt were relay teammates in Beijing, where Jamaica won in a world record of 37.10 seconds. Carter ran the opening leg, and Bolt took the baton third in a team that also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell.

Carter also teamed with Bolt on three straight world championships relay-winning teams, from 2011 through 2015. They were also teammates when Jamaica set another 4x100m world record at the 2012 London Games, running 36.84.

Dozens of athletes tested positive for banned drugs in an IOC-ordered reanalysis programme using new and more accurate tests on samples stored since the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

The majority of more than 110 cases involved steroids and athletes from the former Soviet republics. Carter’s case was the only one involving Jamaica.