Oct 23 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday upheld an appeal by Japanese race walker Koki Ikeda against World Athletics, clearing the Tokyo Olympic silver medallist of an anti-doping rule violation and making him immediately eligible to compete again.

• The 28-year-old was provisionally suspended in November 2024 before receiving a four-year sanction from the Athletics Integrity Unit in February 2025 for allegedly using or attempting to use a banned drug.

• Ikeda challenged the ruling at CAS in March 2025, rejecting the doping allegations brought by World Athletics, which had alleged blood manipulation based on abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport.

• The case was heard by a CAS panel in Lausanne in May

• While the panel accepted that several readings in Ikeda's biological profile were abnormal, it found there was a reasonable non-doping explanation for the findings.

• CAS said Ikeda supported his case with substantial medical and expert evidence, providing a broader factual basis than was available during the proceedings before the World Athletics tribunal.

• The appeal body overturned the four-year sanction, concluding that the anti-doping charge had not been established and that no ban should apply. REUTERS