Usain Bolt's hopes of keeping Beijing relay gold boosted as Nesta Carter launches appeal

Usain Bolt’s hopes of holding on to his 4x100metre relay gold from the Beijing Olympics have been boosted after Nesta Carter lodged an appeal over his positive drugs test.

A retest of Carter’s sample from the 2008 Games was found to contain a banned stimulant and last month he was stripped of the sprint relay gold he won with Bolt, Asafa Powell and Michael Frater.

But Carter’s lawyer, Stuart Stimpson, yesterday lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"They [the documents] have been filed,” said Stimpson. “We’ve paid our fees and we met our timeline.”

At the time of the failed test, Bolt had said: “It’s heartbreaking… but it’s just one of those things. If I need to give back my gold medal, it’s not a problem.”