Olympic sprint finalist Knighton at sports court for appeals in doping contamination case

LAUSANNE Switzerland AP United States sprinter Erriyon Knighton went to court Monday to defend his claim he was contaminated in a positive doping test incident that risks a ban from the next world championships A two-time Olympic finalist in the meters aged just Knighton was cleared to run at the Paris Summer Games last year only after an American tribunal ruled he was not at fault for the positive test for trenbolone a steroid used in livestock farming The World Anti-Doping Agency and track and field s Athletics Integrity Unit have challenged that ruling in combined appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS has scheduled the appeal hearing for two days and noted a verdict is likely within several weeks The U S track and field national championships start July in Eugene Oregon They are trials to pick the U S club for the worlds that open Sept in Tokyo Knighton s attorney Howard Jacobs suggested last year Knighton could be collateral damage in an ongoing feud between WADA and the U S Anti-Doping Agency fueled by how a episode of alleged contamination of Chinese Olympic swimmers was handled by the global watchdog USADA prosecuted Knighton s original incident after he tested positive in March last year and accepted the no-fault ruling based on the explanation the contamination was by oxtail from a bakery in central Florida The USADA examination included obtaining the meat and testing it plus interviews with the manager of the bakery Knighton his girlfriend and his mother They backed up the athlete s claim of contamination In the Chinese incident an explanation of contamination with a banned heart medication in a hotel kitchen in was accepted without evidence backing the theory WADA lawyers and officers decided the agency was unlikely to win any appeals brought to CAS without being able to gather independent evidence in China during the COVID- pandemic Knighton is the sixth-fastest runner in track history with a personal best time of seconds set in Usain Bolt s world record is He placed fourth in the at past two Olympic Games and took one silver medal and one bronze from the past two editions of worlds AP Olympics https apnews com hub -paris-olympic-games Source