'This Case Is Not Over' - US Sprinter Erriyon Knighton Vows to Fight Four-Year Ban After CAS Decision

Erriyon Knighton, through his agent, has vowed to keep fighting his four-year ban, insisting the CAS ruling against him is unjust.

Erriyon Knighton, through his agent John Regis, has vowed to appeal the ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which sided with World Athletics and the World Anti-Doping Agency to ban the American sprinter for four years.

The two-time world silver medallist was found not guilty by the US Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for a metabolite of trenbolone in 2024.

However, just a few hours before the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced that Erriyon Knighton will not be competing at the event, where he had been entered in the 200m and 4x100m as he had been found at fault.

Erriyon Knighton had contested the charge after testing positive, maintaining that the banned substance entered his body through contaminated meat.

On June 19, 2024, an Arbitration Tribunal ruled in his favour, finding that he was not at fault or negligent and therefore imposing no sanction.

However, on August 8, 2024, World Athletics and WADA appealed the decision to CAS, aiming to have it overturned and a four-year suspension enforced with the CAS ruling in their favour.

Erriyon Knighton and Team Considering Challenging the CAS at Swiss Federal Tribunal

In a statement released to the public, Erriyon Knighton’s agent, John Regis, insisted that the ruling by the CAS was corrupt since he was found not at fault by an independent arbitrator in the original case against the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

He added that to have the World Anti-Doping Agency and the Athletes Integrity Unit refile in an appeal was a very concerning move to him.

He added that USADA independently obtained and tested oxtail from the same restaurant where Erriyon Knighton had eaten, and the results confirmed that the meat contained traces of trenbolone.

John Regis further explained that the evidence should have made the case straightforward, and dismissing it as a mere coincidence undermines its significance.

John Regis argued that Erriyon Knighton had presented more evidence of food contamination than any athlete before him, even more than the Chinese swimmers whose cases WADA chose not to appeal.

According to him, those swimmers were quietly cleared without ever being charged, let alone facing arbitration. He added that, given the ongoing tensions between WADA and USADA, and in light of WADA’s statement on the CAS ruling, the appeal appeared to be driven by hostility toward USADA and the United States.

“There is no question that the meat that Erriyon ate was contaminated with the very substance he tested positive for. It is no secret that African American meat can be contaminated with steroids because steroids are by the beef industry to increase their profits, not for health or safety reasons,” he insisted.

“We stand with our client Erriyon Knighton and believe he did not deliberately dope, but he is an athlete who has been found guilty of choosing the wrong restaurant to eat food. This case is not over.”

Erriyon Knighton, popularly referred to as the ‘next Usain Bolt’, will have to wait to appeal his case but for now, his future in the sport remains uncertain.