Asahi Kasei Corporate Team Files Petition Asking for Reversal of Koki Ikeda's Provisional ABP Suspension
On Nov. 2 the Asahi Kasei corporate team issued a statement denying the allegations of doping regulation violations issued a day earlier by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in its announcement of the provisional suspension of team member Koki Ikeda, 26, the silver medalist in the men's 20 km race walk at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Oregon World Championships. Team management filed a petition with the AIU asking for the provisional suspension to be reversed and stated that it would "assert and prove to the AIU that no rules whatsoever had been violated."
The AIU claims that Ikeda's biological passport, which collects detailed blood data over time and allows for monitoring of changes, contained suspicious readings that suggested use of a prohibited method. Asahi Kasei management said that after holding a hearing with Ikeda and consulting with experts in the field, they "believe no rules have been violated" and said they would "work diligently to prove Ikeda's innocence."
Ikeda also issued comments expressing his confusion, saying, "I'm now in the situation where I may not be able to compete due to allegations of things of which I have no memory at all. It's extremely frustrating and I don't know what to do. Since getting official notification from the AIU on June 28 I've had help from many medical professionals, officials within athletics, and other experts, and have presented evidence showing my innocence. We will keep working hard to make sure the truth is known and that there is a fair judgment."
Ikeda was 6th at the 2019 Doha World Championships while still a student at Toyo University and went on to win silver at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the best-ever placing by a Japanese athlete in his event. He went on to repeat a year later with another silver in Oregon. He was 7th at the Paris Olympics in August. He is the cousin of TV personality Miyu Ikeda, also known as Michoppa.
According to Asahi Kasei management, on June 28 the AIU notified Ikeda that blood tests taken between June and August, 2023 suggested possible blood doping, and that if he had any explanation it should be submitted by a specified deadline. He submitted a statement to them on July 24. On Nov. 1 the AIU publicly announced his provisional suspension.
Asahi Kasei explained, "No prohibited substances listed in the World Anti-Doping Agency's International Standard Prohibited List have been detected in any of Ikeda's samples. In order to detect blood doping, the AIU regularly conducts blood tests on targeted international-caliber athletes like Ikeda to measure levels of hemoglobin and other blood components. If there are changes from past levels detected that exceed limits set for an individual athlete's profile and these changes are believed to be indicative of use of a prohibited substance or method, the athlete will be notified and asked to give an explanation of how the changes were not a result of a violation of the rules. The current case involves blood samples taken from Ikeda in June last year which showed that his hemoglobin and other parameters had exceeded particular limits."
The Asahi Kasei statement went on to say, "After receiving the notification in June this year, Ikeda began assembling a portfolio of information about his lifestyle, training and physical condition as well as his blood test data kept by the Japan Institute of Sports Sciences, and asked for help from sports medicine professionals and medical research experts with extensive knowledge within the field of anti-doping research. The opinion of these experts was that the fluctuations in the readings of Ikeda's hemoglobin and other levels were not a result of blood doping, but were due to intravascular hemolysis and gastrointestinal bleeding due to his training, living environment and physical health and the side effects of medication prescribed at the time. A document explaining this was submitted to the AIU."
Translator's note: Just 5 days before the AIU announced Ikeda's provisional suspension, his Asahi Kasei teammate Masatora Kawano broke the world record in the 35 km race walk at the National Race Walking Championships on Oct. 27.
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translated by Brett Larner
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