Athletics-Kenya: image now matters more than medals
Kenya: under close scrutiny, the country wants to get ahead of the problem and repair an image tarnished by the many doping cases in 2022
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In 2022, Kenya had no fewer than 45 athletes sanctioned for doping. A staggering figure, representing 40% of all athletes worldwide who failed anti-doping tests. World Athletics even considered banning Kenya from international competition. While the axe has not ultimately fallen, the country is still in the spotlight. It therefore needs to repair its reputation and change things. That is the mission Barnabas Korir, youth development director at Athletics Kenya, has set himself. He even believes this comes before everything else, including winning medals.
"Results at championships are no longer the priority. The Federation is focusing mainly on protecting clean athletes, because it is a fact that we have athletes who win fairly. We would rather take runners regarded as weaker; results won't matter as long as they run clean. We can no longer concentrate solely on winning medals", he told BBC Sport Africa. Meanwhile, the Kenyan government has decided to put its hand in its pocket to help the fight. It will release 25 million dollars (nearly 24 million euros) over the next five years.
Strict oversight from WA
So Kenya wants to restore its reputation. However, that will not happen without close monitoring by World Athletics. Its president Sébastien Coe even travelled to the country last January to make sure the doping was not state-directed.
What is more, the global governing body of athletics now demands a large number of tests from Kenya. "World Athletics gave us a target of at least 3,000 tests through the Kenyan anti-doping agency this year - it is part of the requirements if we want to continue competing with the rest of the world", Korir continued. This means athletes who want to enter major events must first have undergone three anti-doping tests in the previous 10 months. Just to be eligible.