first sub-10 clocking at 9.97 s. Seven days later, Powell finally got his first Olympic medal as he anchored the Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team to victory, helping establish a new world record in the process. His split time was recorded at 8.70 s (USATF High Performance Registered Split Analysis), bettering his previous record of 8.84 s set in Osaka, 2007. This is the fastest electronically timed anchor run in history, as Bob Hayes was hand timed as running between 8.6 and 8.9 seconds in the 1964 Olympics. The gold medal was later vacated by the IOC in 2017 when a retest of teammate Nesta Carter found the presence of the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine. On 2 September 2008, Powell ran a new personal best of 9.72 s in the 100 m with windspeed measured at +0.2 m/s. He accomplished this feat at the Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland. After the run, he said that Bolt's record performance at the Olympics had inspired him to target a time of 9.59 s: Powell was optimistic about his future chances on the track, and philosophical as to why he could not peak in past major championships: Following his fifth-place finish in Beijing on 16 August, Powell recorded seven consecutive 100 m races under 9.90 s, including two races under 9.80 s. In addition, 2008 was Powell's second-best season on the Grand Prix circuit, claiming seven victories, plus his third consecutive win (and fourth overall) in the 100 m at the World Athletics Final. On his return to Jamaica, Powell was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an Order of Distinction (Commander Rank) in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics. For the second consecutive year Powell ranked second in the world. Powell opened his season on 31 January at the Grace Jackson Invitational, held at Stadium East, Kingston, Jamaica. He ran the 400 metres, winning his heat in 47.75 s, placing him second overall in the four heat time-final. Powell ran the anchor leg for two relay teams at the Milo Western Relays held at the GC Foster College on 14 February. In his first race, his MVP team recorded a new meet record and world leading time of 38.72 s for the 4 × 100 m relay. Later, he was timed at 46.27 s for his leg of the 4 × 400 metres relay, again winning the race