Bolt loses '08 Olympic gold

Usain Bolt lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals Wednesday when the International Olympic Committee stripped Jamaica of their 4x100m relay win at the 2008 Beijing Games after a teammate was caught doping.

The decision which follows the re-testing of hundreds of samples from the Beijing Games, means that Bolt loses one of the three gold medals he won at that Olympics.

Bolt's relay teammate Nestor Carter, who ran the first leg of the race, was found to have tested positive for banned substance Methylhexanamine, which was once used in nasal decongestants but now is more commonly found as an ingredient in dietary supplements.

The loss of the relay gold deprives Bolt of one of his 'triple triples' -- he won gold in the 100m, 200 and the 4x100m at Beijing and then went on to repeat the feat in London in 2012 and again in Rio last year.

Last year, when he was warned of the doping case targeting Carter which could result in him losing an Olympic gold, Bolt said the circumstances were heartbreaking.

"It's heartbreaking because over the years you've worked hard to accumulate gold medals and work hard to be a champion -- but it's just one of those things," he said.

"Things happen in life, so when it's confirmed or whatever, if I need to give back my gold medal I'd have to give it back, it's not a problem for me."

The IOC said in a statement that in the case of Carter, 31, re-analysis of his 2008 samples "resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine."