Nesta Carter OD (born October 11, 1985) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

event. Carter was successful as part of the Jamaican

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team, taking gold and setting successive

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

s at the 2011 World Championships and

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He also won a 4 × 100 m silver medal at the 2007 World Championship and a gold at the 2015 World Championships., beijing2008.cn, ret: August 29, 2008 On August 11, 2013, Carter secured an individual 100 m World Championship bronze medal in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, behind Justin Gatlin and teammate

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

. He followed this with another gold in the 4 × 100 metres relay. In August 2010 he became only the fifth sprinter to run the 100 metres in less than 9.8 seconds. His 100 m personal best of 9.78 currently ranks him as the eleventh fastest man of all time, behind fellow Jamaicans Usain Bolt,

Yohan Blake Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100 metres, 100-metre and 200 metres, 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ...

Asafa Powell Asafa Powell (born 23 November 1982) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently ...

, and Kishane Thompson, Americans

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

, Justin Gatlin,

Christian Coleman Christian Coleman (born March 6, 1996) is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He ...

Trayvon Bromell Trayvon Jaquez Bromell (born July 10, 1995) is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He won bronze medals in the 100 meters at the 2015 and 2022 World Championships. Bromell was the 2016 World indo ...

and

Fred Kerley Fredrick Lee Kerley ( ; born May 7, 1995) is an American track and field sprinter. He was the Olympic silver medalist over 100 m at the 2020 Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2024 Olympics in the same event. Kerley has earned an additional s ...

and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala. On 25 January 2017, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

sanctioned Carter for doping at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, meaning that Carter and his teammates lost their gold medals for the men's 4 × 100 m relay. On 31 August 2021 Carter officially announced his retirement.

Career

Carter attended Manchester High School in central Jamaica. He is a member of the MVP (a Jamaican track and field club. MVP stands for Maximising Velocity and Power).

2002

Representing his high school at the ISSA Championships Carter finished second in the Class 2 100 m in 11.58 s (wind −1.3 m/s), and fourth in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

in 22.54 (wind −2.0 m/s). The 4 × 100 m relay team did not finish their heat.

2003

Carter's 11.01 was thirteenth fastest in the semi-finals of the Class 1 100 m at the ISSA Championships and he did not advance to the final. He finished seventh in the 200 m final, in 22.01 s. His school did not field a team for the 4 × 100 m relay.

2004

In April he finished third in the

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games were first held in 1972 and consist of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track ev ...

Under 20 200 m, in 21.10 (wind −1.4 m/s), and won gold with the Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team in 39.48 s. Carter finished fourth in the 200 m at the June CAC Junior Championships, his time 21.35 s, and ran the third leg of the 4 × 100 m relay team which finished first in 40.63 s. He finished fourth in the 200 m semi-final at the July World Junior Championships in 21.24 s. In the semi-final of the 4 × 100 m relay Carter ran the third leg and the team qualified for the final in 39.90 s. The Jamaica team finished second in the final without Carter.

2005

At the ISSA Championships Carter finished second in the Class 1 100 m in 10.59 s, and second in the 200 m in 21.00 s. No relay team was fielded by his school.

2006

At the Jamaica International Invitational Carter won the 100 m B race in 10.41 s.

2007

In May Carter finished joint-third at the Jamaica International Invitational meet and won the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo in 10.20 s, his first win of an IAAF Grand Prix event. At the Osaka World Championships Carter won his heat in 10.17 s, finished fourth in the quarter-final in 10.23 and finished seventh in the semi-final of the 100 m, his time 10.28 s. Carter ran the third leg of the 4 × 100 m relay team which finished second in a new national record of 37.89 s.

2008

At the inaugural UTech Track and Field Classic Carter ran a personal best 20.38 in the 200 m, bettering his previous best by 0.40 s. Carter was named UTech Sportsman of the Year 2007/2008 on April 10. Carter ran the third leg of the 4 × 100 m relay at the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (officially The Penn Relay Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012 ...

, the team winning the USA vs The World event in 39.14 s. On May 25 Carter successfully defended his title at the Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo, winning in 10.19 s. One week later he won the 100 m at DKB-ISTAF in a personal best 10.08, his first win at a Golden League event. Carter did not report for the start of the 100 m final at the National Trials, due to a leg cramp. He made the Jamaican team for the Olympics after running a personal best 20.31 in the final of the 200 m. At the July DN Galan in Stockholm Carter won race two in 9.98 s, a new personal best that made him just the fifth Jamaican under the 10 second barrier. At the

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

he ran the third leg of the

semi-final with

Michael Frater Michael Frater O.D (born 6 October 1982) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event. He has als ...

Dwight Thomas Dwight Thomas O.D (born 23 September 1980) is a Jamaican sprinter, mainly competing in the 100 metres event and more recently the 110 m hurdles. Career He won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 1998 at the 100 m and ...

and

. Their time of 38.31 s ranked second of sixteen nations in the first round. Thomas was replaced by

for the final, Carter ran the first leg and the team set a new world record of 37.10 s, claiming the gold medal. The split time for Carter's lead-off leg of the relay was 10.34 (USATF High Performance registered split analysis). In 2017 Carter was found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs, resulting in him and the rest of the Jamaican team being stripped of the gold medals. Carter equaled his personal best of 9.98 when he finished third at

Athletissima Athletissima is an annual athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. The first edition was held on 8 July 1977 in the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. In ...

2008 in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. The race was won by Asafa Powell in a new personal best of 9.72 s. At the Zagreb 2008 event Carter won in 10.23 s. Four days later Carter finished second in the 100 m at the World Athletics final in 10.07 s. Carter was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an

Order of Distinction The Order of Distinction (OD) is a national order in the Jamaican honours system. It is the sixth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament (''The National Honours and Awards Ac ...

(Officer Rank) in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics.

2009

Carter ran on the MVP 4 × 100 m relay team at the Milo Western Relays held at the GC Foster College on February 14. The team recorded a new meet record and world leading time of 38.72 s. Carter was nominated for the Laureus World Team of the Year award on April 16, as a member of the 2008 Jamaica Olympic sprint team. Two days later Carter ran a leg of the 4 × 100 m at the UTech Track and Field Classic at the National Stadium in Kingston, Jamaica. The winning time of 38.46 was a new meet record. Carter also finished third in the 200 m at the event in 20.69. Carter next competed at the

on April 25, in the 4 × 100 m relay. Asafa Powell on the fourth leg pulled up and finished ninth in 41.24. A report in the

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

on the morning of the event indicated that Powell had injured his ankle in training and was not expected to run. On May 8 he finished seventh in 10.34 with a reported calf cramp at the

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Athletic Super Grand Prix. At the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, Carter finished a disappointing ninth in 10.16 s. His entry was withdrawn from the Prefontaine Classic on the day of the event. A week before the National Championships on June 26 the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association confirmed that no entry had been received for Carter. The president of MVP track club cited an injury.

2010

In 2010 Carter made some huge improvements in the 100 m races that he had run in the year, by lowering his PB in the 100 m from 9.91 to 9.78—ran in

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on August 29—which equalled the fastest time of 2010 over 100 m set by

a few weeks earlier in the year. The time also ranks Carter as the 5th fastest of all time, while still being the fourth fastest in Jamaica, behind

(9.72),

(9.69) and

(9.58).

2011

Carter managed to make the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships with

and defending champion

. Carter, Blake and Bolt all made it to the final, though Carter had reportedly injured his leg just after the semi-final. In one of the most controversial finals, Usain Bolt false started and was immediately disqualified from the race under the IAAF's new false start policy. Yohan Blake won the gold in 9.92, with

Walter Dix Walter Dix (born January 31, 1986) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the seventh-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in t ...

in second in 10.08, and

Kim Collins Kim Collins (born 5 April 1976) is a former Saint Kitts and Nevis, Kittitian track and field sprint (running), sprinter. In 2003, he became the World Championships in Athletics, World Champion in the 100 metres. He represented his country at the ...

in third in 10.09. Carter trailed in last (7th, due to Bolt's elimination) in 10.95. However, he managed to recover for his injury in time for the 4 × 100 m relay. Jamaica retained their world title in 37.04 seconds, a new world record and the first sub-37.10 by a relay team.

2012

As part of the Jamaican 4 × 100 metres relay team, setting the world record and Olympic record on August 11, 2012, at the 2012 London Olympics, of 36.84 seconds. This makes him part of the only 4 × 100 metres relay team so far to have gone under 37 seconds.

2013

In 2013, Carter participated at the Madrid Invitational, breaking the meeting record at 9.87, also being his season best. At the Moscow World Championships, Carter won the bronze medal in the 100 m in 9.95, behind American Justin Gatlin (9.85) and Jamaican teammate

(9.77). He won a third world championship relay gold, leading off the Jamaican relay team, made up of Carter,

Kemar Bailey-Cole Kemar Bailey-Cole (born 10 January 1992) is a retired track and field athlete from Jamaica, who mainly competed in the 100 m. He is the 2014 Commonwealth Games 100 metres champion. Career He qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics running a per ...

Nickel Ashmeade Nickel Ashmeade (born 7 April 1990) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 and 200 meters. Nickel Ashmeade ran the third leg for Jamaica's 4 × 100 m team at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow which won the gold medal ...

and Bolt. The team won in 37.36 seconds. This win was Jamaica's fifth consecutive major championship sprint relay gold, winning the Olympics in

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

and

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and the world titles in Berlin 2009, Daegu 2011 and Moscow 2013.

2014

Carter confirmed interest in the World Indoor Championships in

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

pending team selection.

2015

Carter went to the new season with a slow start. His season best was 9.98, behind American Ryan Bailey and teammate

. At the 2015 Bahamas World Relays, Nesta Carter ran the first leg at the 4 × 100 m relay, with exactly the same team that ran at the 2013 World Championships, which ended second behind USA relay team that consisted of Michael Rodgers, Justin Gatlin,

and Ryan Bailey. At the 2015 IAAF World Championships, the Jamaican team went on to the finals of the 4 × 100 meter relay, that consisted of Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade and Usain Bolt, which ended with another gold medal with 37.37. This was Carter's fourth world title with the Jamaican team.

2016 – failed anti-doping test

Carter failed an anti-doping test for the banned stimulant

methylhexanamine Methylhexanamine (also known as methylhexamine, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, 1,3-DMAA, dimethylamylamine, and DMAA; trade names Forthane and Geranamine) is an indirect sympathomimetic drug invented and developed by Eli Lilly and Company and marketed ...

when traces of the drug were found in Carter's A and B samples. This happened when 454 frozen blood and urine samples from the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were retested by the

. As a result, on 25 January 2017, Jamaica team lost their gold from the 4 × 100 metres and thus resulting in

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several smaller islets. The capital city is Port of Spai ...

being the new gold medalists from the 2008 Summer Olympics. Carter appealed, but an international sports tribunal upheld a ruling against him.

Accomplishments and major competition results

Personal bests

Competition record

Time progression in the 100 m

All information taken from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile

Time progression in the 200 m

Track records

As of 6 September 2024, Carter holds the following track records for 100 metres.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Nesta 1985 births Living people Jamaican male sprinters Athletes from Manchester Parish Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Jamaica Olympic gold medalists for Jamaica Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals Doping cases in athletics Jamaican sportspeople in doping cases Officers of the Order of Distinction World Athletics record holders (relay) Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Jamaica Competitors at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games IAAF Continental Cup winners World Athletics Championships winners Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics