Nesta Carter

Nesta Carter OD (born October 11, 1985) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres event.

He also won a 4 x 100m silver medal at the 2007 World Championship and a gold at the 2015 World Championships.

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 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 in Beijing he ran the third leg of the 4 x 100 metres relay semi-final with Michael Frater, Dwight Thomas and Asafa Powell.

Their time of 38.31 s ranked second of sixteen nations in the first round.

Thomas was replaced by Usain Bolt 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).

Carter equaled his personal best of 9.98 when he finished third at Athletissima 2008 in Lausanne.

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 (Officer Rank) in recognition

of his achievements at the Olympics.

Carter ran on the MVP 4 x 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.

In August 2010 he became only the fifth sprinter to run the 100 metres in less than 9.8 seconds.

His 100m personal best of 9.78 currently ranks him as the tenth fastest man of all time, behind fellow Jamaicans Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake and Asafa Powell, Americans Tyson Gay, Justin Gatlin, Christian Coleman, Trayvon Bromell and Fred Kerley and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala.

Carter was successful as part of the Jamaican 4 x 100 metres relay team, taking gold and setting successive world records at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics.

On August 11, 2013, Carter secured an individual 100m World Championship bronze medal in Moscow, behind Justin Gatlin and teammate Usain Bolt.

He followed this with another gold in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

On 25 January 2017, the International Olympic Committee sanctioned Carter for doping at the 2008 Olympic Games, 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.

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).

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 in 22.54 (wind −2.0 m/s).

The 4 × 100 m relay team did not finish their heat.

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.

In April he finished third in the CARIFTA Games 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.