This archive report was first published on 15 July 2019.
Published on July 15, 2019, Kenya's anti-doping and athletics chiefs have disputed figures that put the east African nation as the third-most cheating nation in the sport in terms of biological passport offences.
According to local media, Kenya had 41 biological passport sanctions, behind India (42) and Russia (87). Japhter Rugut, Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) chief executive officer, attributed the high number of sanctions to the country's large number of elite athletes.
“Kenya has many athletes, so comparing the frequency against the number of athletes may not give an accurate figure because the probability of getting positives are higher,” Rugut told Reuters.
He added that the WADA-accredited laboratory in Nairobi has started operating and that ADAK has conducted many tests there. Rugut also announced plans to conduct at least four tests on each athlete selected for the World Championships in Doha.
Athletics Kenya Executive Committee member Barnaba Korir termed doping as a global phenomenon, but added that the frequent exposure of cheats “is a result of concerted effort by AK, ADAK and AIU in catching them.”
Kenyan athletics great Kipchoge Keino, however, demanded that the root cause of doping be addressed first. “Who are these faceless people who are killing our talented athletes? We should start from there, then subject them to the laws of the land,” Keino said.
