Fri Sep 12 12:10:00 UTC 2025: **News Article:**
**Erriyon Knighton Receives Four-Year Ban for Doping, CAS Rejects Meat Contamination Defense**
U.S. sprinter Erriyon Knighton, the 2023 World Championship 200m silver medalist, has been handed a four-year ban from competition after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld appeals from World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The ban stems from a positive test for trenbolone, an anabolic steroid, in March 2024.
Knighton, 21, had initially avoided a ban following an independent arbitrator’s ruling after submitting evidence claiming the positive test was due to contaminated meat. This clearance allowed him to potentially compete at the 2024 Olympics. However, World Athletics and WADA challenged the ruling, arguing that Knighton’s evidence did not sufficiently prove the source of contamination.
CAS has now ruled in favor of the appeals, stating that the evidence provided did not establish that oxtail imported into the USA would likely contain trenbolone at levels high enough to cause Knighton’s positive test. The ban is effective immediately, meaning Knighton will miss the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo. Knighton finished fourth in 200m at the Paris Olympics in the summer of 2023.
In related news, Ethiopian middle-distance runner Diribe Welteji, the 2023 World Championship 1500m silver medalist, will also miss the Tokyo competition. CAS upheld a provisional suspension against Welteji after she was charged with failing or refusing to submit a doping sample by the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority.
First Piper 