Appeal after USA’s Knighton cleared to run at Olympics

The Athletics Integrity Unit has launched an appeal after USA sprinter Erriyon Knighton was cleared over a doping offence allowing him to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The appeal has been lodged with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

Knighton, 20, tested positive for trenbolone – a banned substance used for muscle growth – in March but avoided a ban following an independent arbitrator’s ruling.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said the independent arbitrator ruled he more than likely digested the banned substance by eating contaminated meat.

The 200m world silver medallist went on to compete at the Olympics and finished fourth in the men’s 200m final.

“This appeal is against the decision of an arbitration tribunal in the United States that the athlete established no fault or negligence,” the AIU said on Wednesday.

Usada chief executive Travis Tygart said the American body “understands” the AIU’s decision and the “real issue” is the “bad rule” set by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

“Trenbolone, the substance in Knighton’s case, is a known livestock enhancer and known to be found in the meat supply,” he said.

It is the latest comment in a long-running set of disagreements between Usada and Wada.

In June, Wada said it was considering an appeal of the Knighton case to Cas, with a spokesperson adding that they “dare to think” Tygart would have responded differently if it was a Chinese athlete.

Tygart had demanded sanctions on Chinese athletes before the Games after 23 swimmers who competed at the 2021 Tokyo Games were cleared for unintentionally ingesting heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ). Eleven of them competed in Paris.