The 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo are set to be a real celebration of human speed, strength, and spirit. The famous National Stadium, a place rich in Olympic history, was all set to see new legends created and old rivalries come back to life. Fans were really looking forward to the exciting matchups in the sprints and other events, with the best athletes in the world ready to take their sport to new heights.

But in a surprising turn of events, the last 24 hours before the races kick off have been filled with unexpected announcements, as three of the biggest names on the entry lists were suddenly out of the competition.

Erriyon Knighton’s four-year doping ban

Erriyon Knighton, the American sprinting sensation, just received a four-year ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This decision puts a halt to his 2025 season and means he won’t be competing in the World Championships. The 21-year-old who holds the world junior record for the 200m and ranks as the sixth-fastest man ever tested positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroid trenbolone back in March 2024.

A U.S. tribunal initially accepted Knighton’s defense that his positive test came from eating contaminated oxtail, which allowed him to compete in the Paris Olympics, where he ended up finishing fourth. However, World Athletics (WA) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) went ahead and appealed, saying that the contamination claim was “statistically impossible” and didn’t have any solid proof behind it.

The CAS panel came to an agreement and decided on a backdated ban that will keep him from competing until July 2029. This means he won’t be able to participate in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and will also be out of the running for the Tokyo 200m event.

Mutaz Essa Barshim’s heartbreaking withdrawal from the Tokyo World Championships

In a bit of a letdown for the field events, Qatari high jump star Mutaz Essa Barshim has shared that he’s stepping back from the championships because of a nagging foot injury. The 34-year-old, who’s a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medalist, was looking forward to making Tokyo his last world championships. However, it was revealed that he had been “battling with a very serious injury since April.”

Even though he traveled to Japan with the Qatari team and did everything he could to prepare, the medical team ultimately decided that his long-term safety was the most important thing. They advised him not to compete to prevent making his injury worse.

Barshim took to social media to share his disappointment, saying, “I was planning to make Tokyo my last world championships, but unfortunately, my foot hasn’t healed in time.” His absence creates a big gap in the high jump competition, taking away the chance for fans to see a farewell from one of the event’s most iconic and charismatic figures.

Diribe Welteji’s provisional suspension

In the midst of all the pre-championships chaos, Ethiopian middle-distance star Diribe Welteji found out she was declared ineligible to compete. This came after the CAS agreed to a request for a provisional suspension from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). The 23-year-old who snagged a silver medal in the 1500m at the 2023 World Championships was first given the green light by the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority after facing a charge for not submitting to a sample collection on May 21.

The AIU decided to appeal that decision though the CAS has stated Welteji needs to be suspended while the arbitration process goes on. This last-minute decision, announced on the eve of her event, forced her out of the 1500m heats and removed a major medal threat from the field, leaving the outcome of the event wide open and casting a shadow over the entire Ethiopian team.

The spectacular fallout just a day before the World Championships kicked off really highlights the huge pressures and challenges that modern athletes are dealing with. Even though the stadium lights are now highlighting a fresh group of champions, the missing faces of Knighton, Barshim, and Welteji will definitely influence the story of the 2025 Tokyo Worlds. It’s a reminder that the excitement off the track can be just as captivating as what happens on it.