Jamaican Olympic athlete Dominique Blake has had her six-year ban for a second doping offence reduced by 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following an appeal to the Swiss-based authority.

A 27-page CAS ruling dated May 2 and obtained by Reuters indicated that the 27-year-old 400m runner is now suspended for “four years and six months”, with the ban backdated to July 1, 2012.

The reduction to her suspension means Blake will be able to resume her career at the end of January 2017.

The Jamaica Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel handed Blake the six-year suspension on June 13, 2013, starting on that date, after she tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexanamine at the previous year’s Olympic trials.

However, a CAS panel sided with Blake’s appeal for a reduced period of ineligibility.

Blake had previously served a nine-month suspension after testing positive for ephedrine in 2006.

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