But the sprinters will not miss the London 2012 Olympics because the length of the suspension does not trigger the automatic ban imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Under new IOC rules, any athlete who is banned for longer than six months is automatically also suspended from competing in the next Olympics.

Blake, Marvin Anderson, Lansford Spence, and Allodin Fothergill were all suspended by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Appeals Tribunal for their use of the prohibited drug 4-Methyl-2-Hexanamine, a stimulant.

But the ban imposed by the Tribunal, which was headed by retired Court of Appeal judge, Justice Ransford Langrin, is largely meaningless because it is due to run from September 14 to December 14 when the athletes would not be competing anyway.

It also means that any prize money the athletes won in the period before can be retained and does not need to be returned.

But five athletes - who had all qualified to represent Jamaica at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany - did not compete as a result of the ongoing case.

Of the four, Blake was the most high-profile.

The 19-year-old, the 2006 world junior 100 metres bronze medallist, who is coached by Bolt's trainer Glen Mills, has been identified as one of the rising stars of the sport, having run 9.93sec earlier this year.
 
Anderson, 27, was a member of the Jamaican 4x100m relay team that won a silver medal at the last World Championships in Osaka two years ago, and also trains alongside Bolt under Mills.
 
Spence, 26, helped the 4x400m squad to a bronze at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, while Fothergill, 22, ran the Jamaican 4x400m team that finished eighth at the Olympics in Beijing last year.

The verdict, which was disclosed during the third sitting of the public hearing, overturned the previous ruling by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee.

The appeal was brought by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) against a decision of the Jamaica Anti-doping Disciplinary Committee to clear Anderson, Blake, Fothergill and Spence, whose samples taken at the National Championships in June test positive.

Dr Patrece Charles-Freeman, the executive director of JADCO, was satisfied with the penalties imposed on the athletes.

She said: "I think that the appeals Tribunal had a sound understanding of the case and the matter at hand and I personally feel that the sanction that was given was fair."

The Appeals Tribunal has also upheld the "not guilty" verdict handed down by the Disciplinary Committee last month in favour of a fifth sprinter, Sheri-Ann Brooks, the Commonwealth Games 100m champion.

Langrin said: "We heard the first appeal... against Sheri-Ann Brooks and the panel has considered the matter and we've made a written decision... that the appeal is dismissed.

"So it means that the athlete Sheri-Ann Brooks is free; there is no violation on her part.

"The ground on which we found is that they [JADCO] didn't conform to the rules relating to the testing of the samples - the same ground as the Disciplinary Panel found."

A spokesman for the IAAF said: “We wait for the full written explanation and then we can decide if we accept the decision."


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August 2009: Row in Jamaica over athletes cleared of doping
July 2009: Bolt victory overshadowed by drug revelations