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

The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld Japanese race walker Koki Ikeda’s appeal, overturning his four-year suspension and making him immediately eligible to compete. Provisionally suspended in November 2024 and sanctioned in February 2025 over alleged blood manipulation, Ikeda challenged abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport. CAS found a reasonable non-doping explanation for the readings, supported by medical and expert evidence, and ruled that the anti-doping charge had not been established. Ikeda won 20km silver at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Championships, and finished seventh at the 2024 Paris Olympics.