AN American sprinter is facing a FOUR-YEAR ban from athletics after finishing fourth in the Olympic 200m final last week.

Erriyon Knighton was provisionally suspended by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) after testing positive for a banned anabolic agent in March.

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But the 20-year-old was then allowed to compete at Paris 2024 after a neutral third party panel cleared him of any wrongdoing.

He qualified for the 200m at the US Olympic trials and finished fourth, behind winner Letsile Tebogo from Botswana and compatriots Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles.

Now the Athletics Integrity United (AIU) - which polices doping on a global level - has appealed that "no fault" decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Knighton has claimed that the presence of the banned substance was down to eating oxtail from a Florida restaurant.

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He tested positive for Trenbolone, which is often found in livestock and has been linked to a number of contamination cases over the years.

Knighton’s attorney, Howard Jacobs said: "Erriyon will vigorously defend himself against this baseless appeal.”

The AIU did not disclose details of why it was appealing the verdict.

The case has fuelled allegations of "double standards" among athletes after 23 Chinese swimmers were allowed to compete at Tokyo 2020 after testing positive for trimetazidine.

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China also blamed food contamination in a hotel kitchen.

The World Anti-Doping Agency accepted the country's findings that it was due to substance contamination.

China won 12 swimming medals at the Paris Games, many of which involved swimmers from that case who were not sanctioned.

USADA released a statement from CEO Travis Tygart explaining the “stark contrast” between how it handled the Knighton case versus China and World Anti-Doping Agency's handling of the swimming cases.

He then accused WADA of allowing China to “sweep these cases under the rug” and of “turning a blind eye” to them.