CAS clears Japan’s Olympic silver medallist Ikeda of doping, overturns ban

What the report says

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has overturned a doping ban against Japanese race walker Koki Ikeda, clearing the Olympic silver medallist and saying he can return to competition immediately, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on Reuters. Ikeda, 28, had been provisionally suspended in November 2024 and later received a four-year sanction from World Athletics’ Athletics Integrity Unit in February 2025 over allegations that he used or attempted to use a banned substance.

The case centered on abnormal readings in Ikeda’s Athlete Biological Passport, which World Athletics said pointed to blood manipulation. Ikeda appealed to CAS in March 2025, and a panel heard the matter in Lausanne in May. CAS said the abnormalities could be explained in a non-doping way and noted that Ikeda presented medical and expert evidence that had not been part of the earlier proceedings. The panel concluded that the anti-doping violation had not been proven and removed the sanction.

The decision restores Ikeda’s eligibility after a period in which his results from June 20, 2023, through November 1, 2024, had been disqualified. The ruling matters because it affects a prominent athlete who won Olympic silver in the 20km race walk at Tokyo 2020 and again finished seventh at the Paris Games in 2024.

In the same report, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Ethiopian marathon runner Ruti Aga received a six-year ban for a prohibited steroid and tampering-related issues, a separate case that underscores ongoing anti-doping enforcement in elite athletics.