Nesta Carter is likely to appeal his 2008 Beijing Olympic Games disqualification through the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS), following the International Olympic Association's (IOC) decision to strip the sprinter and Jamaica of the 4x100m relay gold medal won in the Chinese city.

The decision will be confirmed after continued consultation with his London-based legal team today. He has 21 days to appeal.

Last year, Carter's frozen 2008 blood sample showed the presence of the prohibited substance methylhexanamine after the application of updated testing methods.

His was one of 31 samples that returned doping violations under a reanalysis exercise that took a second look at 454 samples from the Beijing Games.

RECLASSIFIED

Methylhexanamine has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list as a stimulant since the organisation took over the responsibility of monitoring doping in sports in 2004. It was reclassified in 2011 as a 'specified substance'.

With the IOC yesterday announcing that Carter, and by virtue of his involvement, the Jamaican 4x100m relay team, which also included Usain Bolt, Asafa Powell, and Michael Frater, was disqualified from the 2008 Games, the sprinter and his management team are this morning expected to continue discussions with his legal team. The team includes Kate Gallafent of London-based legal firm Blackstone Chambers.

Gallafent was instructed during the IOC hearing in Lausanne on October 17, 2016, by Kendrah Potts of the law firm Mishon de Reya, which has offices in London and New York.

Carter and his team are expected to go over the basis for a potential appeal with Gallafent and Potts to determine whether a solid case can be built for the Jamaican.

Notably, a CAS appeal could cost up to US$100,000 (J$13 million) when court and legal fees as well as hotel and airfare costs for attorneys and specialists are considered.

Carter met with Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president Mike Fennell yesterday morning and spent much of the afternoon with his MVP Track Club training partners at the University of Technology.

The meeting at the JOA was also attended by Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association president Dr Warren Blake, JOA Secretary General Christopher Samuda, and MVP Track Club president Bruce James.

GOLD TO TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

In confirming Carter's disqualification, the IOC advised that the IAAF had been instructed to adjust the results of the event accordingly, with Trinidad and Tobago promoted to gold-medal winners and Japan and Brazil upgraded to silver and bronze, respectively.

"Nesta Carter, 31, of Jamaica, competing in the men's 4x100m relay event (round one and final), in which he and his teammates ranked first and for which they were awarded the gold medal, has been disqualified from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008," said the IOC. "Re-analysis of Carter's samples from Beijing 2008 resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance methylhexanamine."

Meanwhile, the JOA has already instructed Carter's Beijing 2008 4x100m teammates to return their gold medals.

andre.lowe@gleanerjm.com

Nesta Carter doping case

- August 23, 2008: Nesta Carter requested to provide a urine sample for a doping control. Sample was identified number 1846146.

- The A-Sample, 1846146, was analysed during the 2008 Olympic Games by the WADA-accredited laboratory in Beijing. Analysis did not result in an adverse analytical finding.

- Samples were transferred to the WADA-accredited lab in Lausanne for long-term storage.

- The International Olympic Association (IOC) performed further analyses on samples in order to detect prohibited substances, which were not identified by the analysis performed at the time of the 2008 Olympic Games.

- The analysis of the A-Sample of Carter indicated the potential presence of a prohibited substance - methylhexanamine - and was reported as a Presumptive Adverse Analytical Finding (PAAF).

- May 18, 2016: Nesta Carter was informed of the PAAF.

- June 2, 2016: Results of the B1-Sample analysis were reported, which established the presence of the metabolites of a prohibited substance, namely methylhexanamine.

- June 3, 2016: IOC notified Carter of disciplinary proceedings to be conducted by the Disciplinary Commission.

- June 15, 2016: Results of the B2-Sample analysis were reported to the IOC, confirming the presence in the B2-Sample of the metabolites of a prohibited substance, namely methylhexanamine.

- July 6, 2016: Kendrah Potts, solicitor, represents Nesta Carter.

- July 15, 2016: IOC informed Carter's counsel that the hearing of the Disciplinary Commission would be scheduled after the conclusion of the 2016 Olympic Games.

- October 17, 2016: Hearing of the Disciplinary Commission was held at the IOC Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

- Carter participated in the hearing via videoconference, with Stuart L. Stimpson, attorney-at-law in Kingston, Jamaica. He was represented at the hearing by Kate Gallafent, QC, and Kendrah Potts. Athlete's expert, Paul Scott, was heard by videoconference.

- The NOC was represented by Mike Fennell, president of the Jamaica Olympic Association.

- The IOC was represented by Richard Budgett, IOC medical and scientific director, and Tamara Soupiron, legal counsel. They were assisted by Jean-Pierre Morand and Nicolas Franais, IOC external legal counsels.

- January 25, 2017: the IOC informed that Carter was disqualified from the 2008 Olympic Games. It also informed that the Jamaican men's 4x100m relay team that Carter was a member of had been disqualified and that all medals should be returned.