Usain Bolt’s agent says the sprint star is not the Jamaican athlete whose retested sample from the 2008 Beijing Olympics has revealed a doping violation.
Local newspaper The Gleaner said yesterday that an “experienced” Jamaican runner was among 31 athletes from among a dozen countries whose retested A sample from the Beijing Games had shown the presence of a banned substance.
The runner cannot be named pending the outcome of the B sample test, however Bolt’s agent denied to the French sports newspaper L’Equipe that the sprint king was the athlete involved.
The Gleaner said that “at least one (Jamaican) medal from the Beijing Olympics (is) now in jeopardy”.
The reanalysis of samples was carried out at the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is trying to crack down on doping ahead of the Rio Games in August.
Jamaica Olympic Association president Michael Fennell declined comment, while Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president Dr Warren Blake told Reuters his organisation had not been notified of any rule violation.
Following the biggest doping scandal in years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has ordered retesting of 2008 and 2012 Olympic samples where traces of drugs that were undetectable at the time now show up under advanced techniques.
The IOC said last month that 31 athletes from six different sports and 12 countries had tested positive in the retesting of 2008 samples and that it had launched disciplinary action against the as yet unidentified athletes who would not be allowed to compete in August’s Rio de Janeiro games.
Russia has already said 14 of its athletes were among the positive tests from 2008.
The IOC has said the process of deciding how to reallocate medals after the re-testing of the Beijing and London Games samples was still under consideration.
Jamaica won six gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the 2008 Olympics, all in athletics.