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U.S. sprint phenom Erriyon Knighton given lengthy suspension that shatters L.A. Olympic dreams

The United States track team for the home Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028 will be without one of its most promising young sprinters.

Erriyon Knighton has been handed a four-year ban in a doping case, with the news breaking on Friday. It rules him out through July 2029.

Knighton had originally been cleared in a June 2024 doping investigation that found that a failed drug test was "more likely than not" caused by contaminated meat.

The World Anti-Doping Agency and the Athletics Integrity United appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And the court upheld the appeals, meaning Knighton would be suspended after all.

According to Yahoo Sports, Knighton tested positive for a metabolite of the steroid trenbolone, which is used in livestock farming.

Knighton made the case that he had purchased contaminated oxtail from a bakery in Florida.

The court ruled against that claim.

“After considering the scientific evidence, the CAS panel determined that there is no proof that would support the conclusion that oxtail imported into the USA would be likely to contain trenbolone residues at the level required to have caused the (positive test),” the court said. "... World Athletes and WADA considered that the evidence submitted by the athlete and his explanations of a meat contamination scenario fell short of the required proof of source and were statistically impossible."

Knighton's originally successful ruling had come in time for him to run at the Paris Olympics, where he placed fourth in the 200 meters.

He has the third-best American time ever in the 200 with the 19.49 seconds that he ran in 2022. Only Noah Lyles and Michael Johnson have been faster.

Knighton has won both a silver and a bronze medal in the 200 at previous World Championship meets, although he didn't qualify for the 2025 edition that's just about to get underway in Tokyo.

He had originally broken onto the scene in May of 2021 when, at 17, he broke Usain Bolt's world record for the fastest under-18 200-meter time. He then ran at the U.S. Olympic Trials and qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo, becoming the youngest male to represent the U.S. in track and field since 1964.