Fear has gripped the Kenyan athletics fraternity following reports that Kenya could be investigated for doping, following a similar probe in Russia. Olympic bronze medalist Wilson Kipsang says Kenyan athletes are a worried lot.
In Kenya’s lush Rift Valley region, famous for churning out champion runners from high-altitude training camps, fears of a Kenyan doping probe , similar to Russia’s that led to their ban from athletics, appear more real than imagined before.
In the last few years, 33 Kenyan runners have failed drugs tests, with 15 athletes currently serving IAAF sanctions for doping. The trend is disturbing to the fraternity and the man who first blew the whistle on doping in kenya says that more needs to be done.
As Kenya lives in fear of a Russia style- doping probe, the federation’s own vice president David Okeyo has been placed under investigations by the IAAF ethics commission for allegedly stealing over $700,000 sponsorship money from one of the federation’s sponsors, Nike, funds meant for athletics programs in the country.
