Olympic and World Championship silver medallist Koki Ikeda has been banned for four years by the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal in an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) case.
In an operative award rendered yesterday, the Tribunal ruled that the 26-year-old Japanese race walker breached Rule 2.2 of the World Athletics Anti-Doping Rules – “Use or Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method.”
Ikeda, a former World number one, has been provisionally suspended since 1 November 2024, and the time served has been credited to his ban. His results between 20 June 2023 and 1 November 2024 have been disqualified.
The athlete was charged after abnormalities were detected in his blood samples collected on 20 June 2023 and between 16 August and 13 September 2023, which the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) alleged were indicative of blood manipulation.
The matter was referred to the Disciplinary and Appeals Tribunal after Ikeda denied the charge. An operative award was issued so a decision could be reached before the Japan Race Walking Championships on 16 February, in which the athlete wished to compete. A fully reasoned decision will follow and the decision is appealable to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Ikeda captured silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and returned to the podium the following year with another second-place finish at the World Championships in Eugene, United States.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is the independent body created by the World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping – for the sport of athletics. The remit of the AIU includes anti-doping, the pursuit of individuals engaged in age or competition results manipulation, investigating fraudulent behaviour with regards to transfers of allegiance, and detecting other misconduct including bribery and breaches of betting rules. It is the AIU’s role to drive cheats out of our sport, and to do everything within its power to support honest athletes around the world who dedicate their lives to reaching their sporting goals through dedication and hard work.
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