American athlete cleared of doping after eating beef with steroids

Jarrion Lawson missed the 2019 season as a result of an initial ban

Jarrion Lawson at the 2018 World Athletics Indoor Championships (AP)

The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed on Monday it has overturned a four-year ban imposed on American long jumper Jarrion Lawson for a positive doping test caused by eating beef containing steroids.

The 2017 world championship silver medalist had announced Friday he could return to competition almost 20 months after his last event.

Lawson was unanimously cleared by three judges of any fault for the positive test, the court said. The judging panel included Richard McLaren, who led investigations into the Russian doping program.

Traces of anabolic steroids were found in a June 2018 sample, but the court said it was “more likely than not that the origin of the prohibited substance was contaminated beef consumed in a restaurant the day before the test”.

Lawson was able to prove he ordered a beef bowl at a Japanese restaurant in Arkansas on 2 June 2018.

The steroid, trenbolone, can be used in the United States to promote the growth of beef cattle. It is banned in farming in the European Union.

Trenbolone formed part of a steroid mixture, known as the “Duchess” cocktail, developed in Russia and used by its athletes ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Twenty-five-year-old Lawson last competed in July 2018 at a Diamond League event in London, where he took silver at the previous year’s worlds. He placed fourth at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

While suspended by World Athletics, Lawson missed the 2019 season, including the world championships in Qatar.​

AP