The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) has dismissed the appeal brought by World Athletics (WA) against the decision of the World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal dated 27 October 2002 (the "Disputed Decision") in relation to the long-distance runner Norah Jeruto (Kazakhstan).

Norah Jeruto Tanui is a Kenyan athlete competing for Kazakhstan, specialising in the 3000m steeplechase (her time of 8:53.02 is the third fastest in history).

She had won a gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships and a gold medal at the 2016 African Athletics Championships (representing Kenya) and the 2021 Diamond League final.

Norah Jeruto was suspended by World Athletics (WA) for "use of a prohibited substance or method" in relation to her biological passport.

The athlete had shown abnormal values in two blood tests in 2020 and 2021, which the authorities considered to be evidence of doping, resulting in her being suspended between April and November 2023 and missing the last World Championships in Budapest.

The TAS decision upholds the appealed decision, which found that Norah Jeruto did not violate World Athletics' anti-doping rules ("ADR") in relation to alleged abnormalities in her Athlete Biological Passport ("ABP").

In its appeal to the TAS, WA had requested a four-year period of Ineligibility.

The TAS Panel held a hearing on 17 and 18 June. After deliberation, the TAS Panel today issued the operative part of its decision dismissing WA's appeal.

The reasons and considerations for the decision were not disclosed. In a press release, the TAS announced the decision and stated that it would be communicated to the parties in due course and made public by the TAS unless the parties requested confidentiality.

The athlete competed in Los Angeles on 17 May with results that left her far from winning the race, but with a time that would allow her to qualify for Paris 2024 by just over half a second (9:22.45).