This archive report was first published on 30 July 2019.
Kenya's reputation as a powerhouse in distance running was severely tested in 2016 when a string of doping scandals threatened to disqualify the country from the Rio Olympics.
Established in the wake of the scandal, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (Adak) has since made significant strides in addressing doping in athletics.
"It was a time when Kenya faced an enormous challenge in terms of the very integrity of our sports," said Japhter Rugut, Adak's head.
Between 2004 and August 2018, 138 Kenyan athletes tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, according to a World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report published in September 2018.
However, the report concluded that there was "no evidence of an institutionalised system" of doping in Kenya.
Despite this, efforts to clean up the sport are beginning to bear fruit. Since its inception, the number of anti-doping tests conducted by Adak has mushroomed more than 10-fold, from about 100 in 2016 to 1,150 in 2018.
Adak has also launched a nation-wide awareness-raising program aimed at athletes, coaches, and medical staff, under its slogan "Stay Clean, Win Right".
However, tackling doping remains a monumental challenge, particularly at the grassroots level. There are 4,000 top-level athletes registered with the athletics federation, stretching oversight resources.
"There are easily more than 500 top marathon runners... so it is difficult for the federation, given its limited resources, to monitor and control each athlete," said specialist journalist Elias Makori.
"Every weekend, there are dozens of Kenyans winning marathons all over the world," he added.
With the Tokyo Olympics looming less than a year away, Kenya is confident it will avoid a repeat of the Rio Games controversy, even if more work needs to be done.
