‘No fault or negligence’: US champion long jumper Jarrion Lawson cleared of doping by CAS

American long jumper and sprinter Jarrion Lawson has had a four-year doping ban annulled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which ruled that a prohibited steroid entered the athlete’s body through “contaminated beef.”

The 25-year-old jumper failed an out-of-competition doping test in June 2018, after performance-enhancing drug epitrenbolone was detected in his system.

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Following an investigation conducted by World Athletics, Lawson was slapped with a four-year ban for violating doping rules.

Lawson denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the tainted meat he ate in a local restaurant was behind the failed test.

The 2017 world silver medalist filed an appeal with the CAS, which overturned the ruling, allowing Lawson to compete without any restrictions.

“The CAS Panel found it more likely than not that the origin of the prohibited substance was contaminated beef consumed in a restaurant the day before the test,” CAS said in a statement.

“Following a very careful review and examination of the evidence and expert testimony in this procedure, the Panel was unanimously of the view that Jarrion Lawson had established that he bore no fault or negligence for his positive finding under Article 10.4 of the IAAF Anti-Doping Rules. As a consequence of such finding, the period of ineligibility was eliminated.”

Lawson won the US national long jump title in 2017. During the same year, he took silver in the men’s long jump event at the IAAF World Championships in London.