Sprinter able to run at US trials despite positive test

Sprinter Erriyon Knighton tested positive for a banned substance that an arbitration panel determined came from contaminated meat, a decision that keeps the 200m specialist eligible to run at the upcoming US Olympic trials.

The 20-year-old from Florida, who holds the US under-18 and under-20 records in the 200m, tested positive for the performance enhancer trenbolone during an out-of-competition test in March, according to the US Anti-Doping Agency, which revealed details of the case on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Though the arbitration panel cleared Knighton to run in the 200m, starting on June 27, the decision can be appealed by either the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which oversees doping in track and field, or the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Neither WADA nor the AIU immediately returned emails seeking comment.

"We did what the rules require us to do in all positive cases," USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said. "We can take comfort that justice was served and transparency as required by the rules was achieved."

Tygart said the contaminated meat came from oxtail at a bakery in central Florida.

A USADA investigation, which included obtaining the meat and testing it, along with interviews with the manager of the bakery, Knighton, his girlfriend and his mother, backed up the sprinter's contamination claim.

When Knighton qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, he became the youngest male since Jim Ryun in 1964 to make the US Olympic team. He finished fourth in the 200m, behind Andre De Grasse, Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles.

Knighton finished second behind Lyles at last year's world championships.

Contamination cases such as Knighton's aren't unheard of, though they have come under closer scrutiny of late in the wake of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers whose positive tests for a banned heart medication were deemed to have come because of contamination.

WADA accepted the explanation from Chinese authorities and did not pursue that case, which became public after reporting by the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD.

Part of WADA's argument has been to point out contamination cases that originated in the US - which have involved everything from meat to dog medicine - have not always resulted in sanctions.

USADA has insisted it has followed the rulebook in all those cases, including making public any violation, even if it did not result in a penalty.