The IAAF confirms that the Jamaican sprinter is not provisionally suspended and can return to competition

Nesta Carter can return to competition, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has confirmed, with the Jamaican sprinter reportedly set to return to action for the first time in almost 17 months at the Western Relays at Montego Bay, Jamaica, this weekend.

Last month the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that Jamaica’s Beijing 2008 4x100m relay team – which included sprint star Usain Bolt – would lose their gold medals as a result of team member Carter testing positive for a banned substance.

The IOC said that reanalysis of Carter’s samples from the 2008 Games resulted in a positive test for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.

According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Carter’s legal team is currently finalising its submission to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal the sprinter’s Beijing 2008 disqualification.

On Wednesday, the IAAF confirmed that Carter is now allowed to compete.

“He is not provisionally suspended, because the substance considered as a minor and there is a litigation before CAS,” said an IAAF spokesperson.

Carter ran the opening leg of the men’s 4x100m final which saw the Jamaican team – also featuring Michael Frater, Bolt and Asafa Powell – clock a then world-record time of 37.10 to take the 2008 Olympic title ahead of Trinidad and Tobago, Japan and Brazil.

The 31-year-old also formed part of Jamaica’s gold medal-winning sprint relay teams at the London 2012 Olympics and the 2011, 2013 and 2015 World Championships. He won world indoor 60m silver in 2012 and 100m bronze at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013.