Court of Arbitration for Sport Acquits Japanese Rower Ikeda and Immediately Restores Him to Competition

The Court of Arbitration for Sport today acquitted Japanese runner Koki Ikeda, who won the silver medal in the race walk at the Tokyo Olympics, of charges of violating anti-doping rules, after accepting his appeal against the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics), paving the way for his immediate return to competition.

Ikeda, 28, was provisionally suspended in November 2024, before being handed a four-year ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit in February 2025, following allegations that he used or attempted to use a prohibited substance to enhance performance.

The Japanese athlete appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2025, denying the accusations, which were based on abnormal indicators in his biological passport that led World Athletics to suspect tampering.

Although the court acknowledged the presence of some unusual readings in Ikeda’s biological file, it concluded that these results could be explained by legitimate reasons unrelated to doping.

Accordingly, the Appeals Division annulled the four-year suspension and determined that the violation of anti-doping rules had not been sufficiently proven, meaning there was no justification for imposing any sanction on the Japanese athlete.