All four members of the Jamaican relay team – which also included Michael Frater and Asafa Powell – have now been stripped of their medals from Beijing 2008, ruining Bolt’s perfect Olympic record of 100m, 200m and 4x100m triumphs from three Games.

Original Beijing 4x100m silver medallists Trinidad and Tobago are likely to be upgraded to gold, with Japan boosted to silver and Brazil bronze. Bolt could potentially lose other medals if any of Carter’s later samples test positive.

The International Association of Athletics Federations, in a statement on Wednesday night, said: “Once the IOC’s case and any appeal is concluded for the disqualification of Nesta Carter from the men’s 4x100m event at the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 for an anti-doping rule violation, the IAAF will take it to the Jamaican federation to determine Carter’s sanction beyond this disqualification. The IAAF will also retest any samples it holds in storage for the athlete from other competitions.”

Carter is to lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the verdict.

"Mr. Carter will be taking his appeal to CAS," Carter's lawyer, Stuart Stimpson, said on Wednesday.