US Sprinter Erriyon Knighton Receives Four-Year Doping Ban

American sprinter Erriyon Knighton has been handed a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport following appeals by World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency against a prior decision that cleared him of fault. Knighton tested positive for the anabolic steroid trenbolone in an out-of-competition test, which he attributed to contaminated oxtail meat, but CAS found no credible proof to support this explanation. The ban, effective immediately and reduced by the provisional suspension he served, bars the 21-year-old from competing at the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo and likely rules him out of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Knighton had been initially cleared by a U.S. tribunal that accepted the no-fault contamination defense, but this was overturned by CAS on appeal. Despite the ban, Knighton retains his results from the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth in the 200 meters, and medals from previous world championships. The decision highlights the ongoing strict enforcement of anti-doping rules in athletics.