Team USA Hit Hard as Sprint Sensation Erriyon Knighton Receives Four-Year Ban

CAS has imposed a four-year ban on Erriyon Knighton, ruling against his meat-contamination defense, in a major setback for Team USA’s sprinting hopes.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has partially upheld appeals filed by World Athletics (WA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against US sprinter Erriyon Knighton in connection with an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV).

A statement released to the public by the AIU noted that Erriyon Knighton has been sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility, effective immediately, with credit given for his provisional suspension served between April 12 and June 19, 2024.

The case began on May 28, 2024, when the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) charged Erriyon Knighton with an ADRV following an out-of-competition test that detected epitrenbolone, a metabolite of trenbolone.

Trenbolone is classified as an anabolic androgenic steroid and is prohibited under the WADA Prohibited List (S.1.1).

Erriyon Knighton challenged the charge, arguing that the substance entered his system through contaminated meat.

On June 19, 2024, an Arbitration Tribunal ruled in his favour, determining that he bore no fault or negligence and imposing no period of ineligibility.

World Athletics and WADA appealed that decision to CAS on August 8, 2024, seeking to overturn the ruling and impose a four-year ban.

The appeals were heard jointly in Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 23 to 24, 2025. During the hearing, Erriyon Knighton argued that the ADRV resulted from consuming an oxtail dish contaminated with trenbolone.

After reviewing the evidence, the CAS Panel concluded there was no scientific basis to support the likelihood that imported oxtail in the United States contained trenbolone residues at levels sufficient to explain Erriyon Knighton’s positive test.

“This is an unofficial summary for media use. A full CAS award will be published on the CAS website in due course, unless Parties request confidentiality,” the statement partly read.

CAS therefore upheld the appeals in part, imposing a four-year ban. However, WA and WADA’s request to disqualify all of Knighton’s competitive results from March 26, 2024 onward was only partially granted. His results are disqualified retroactively from 26 March to 12 April 2024.