- Sebastian Coe has showered Kenya with praises for the commendable job the country is doing in curbing doping.
- Coe made the remarks during a meeting with Kenya’s Sports CS Salim Mvurya that took place in Nairobi.
- Several Kenyan runners have been banned or suspended in recent months due to doping.
The World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has praised Kenya for the outstanding job it has done in fighting doping.
Kenya, which was on the verge of being sanctioned a few years ago due to the doping menace, came up with several measures that included a $5,000,000 (approximately Ksh 646,000,000) kitty to curb the vice.
The effort that has been made since then has helped the country to easily identify dopers and punish them.
Kenyan athletes punished by AIU
In recent months, more than five athletes including the 2024 Sirikwa Classic Cross Country champion Emmaculate Achol Anyango and Brimin Misoi Kipkorir have either been suspended or banned by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
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Anyango, who represented Kenya in last years’ World Athletics Cross Country Championships, was slapped with a six year ban after being found guilty of using testosterone.
On the other hand, Misoi was provisionally suspended for the use/presence of prohibited substances such as Furosemide.
Kenya’s support
According to Coe, various stakeholders in Kenya have played their roles effectively and supported the world governing body in its war against doping.
“We wanted to discuss two key areas. One was the ongoing fight in the anti-doping space, which the Kenyan government had been so supportive of all our efforts.
And the second key area, and the very prominent challenge, is gender-based violence, not entirely or uniquely linked to sport, but recognizing that we can use sport as a way of raising the profile of the challenge,” he explained during a meeting that took place in Nairobi on Wednesday, February 5.
Coe, who is seeking to be elected as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, also took the opportunity to applaud the government for setting aside resources to support the fight against doping.
Kenya’s huge investment
He specifically mentioned the huge amount of money that the government has set aside to help eradicate doping in sports.
“The funding made available by the Kenyan government has been extremely helpful in this fight. I know the Athletic Integrity Unit, which is the independent organization within World Athletics that monitors and conducts all our testing programs, is very satisfied by the progress that is being made,” ended Coe.
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On his part, Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Salim Mvurya promised that the Kenyan government will do everything possible to ensure athletes run clean.
“Strengthening ongoing interventions and initiatives to uphold athletes’ high standards of integrity remains a key commitment of the government.
We continue to avail resources towards enhancing education, testing, research, and awareness programs on Gender Based Violence to ensure athletes strictly comply with established regulations in every competition,” offered Mvurya.
Besides Mvurya, some of the other key officials that took part in the meeting include Sports Permanent Secretary (PS) Peter Tum, and Athletics Kenya (AK) President Jackson Tuwei.
Peninah Wahome, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) and her Gender protection in sports secretariat counterpart Diana Watila.