Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has declared war on doping among athletes and sports persons in the country.
The sports CS said the doping monster in sports threatening to ruin the heritage of the nation which competes and wins clean.
“As a country, we have declared total war on doping. This is because doping threatens that proud Kenyan heritage and the pedigree of Kenya as a nation that competes and wins clean,” he stated.
The sports CS further noted that since the late Wilson Arap Chuma won Kenya’s first medal, the country has kept a record as a nation that competes on the international stage free from any enhancing drugs.
Arap Chuma was a Kenyan sprinter and middle-distance runner who competed at the 1964 Tokyo and 1968 Mexico Olympics and won two medals in the 800m event, a bronze in Tokyo and a silver medal in Mexico. He was the first Kenyan ever to win an Olympic medal.
“From the days of Wilson Kiprugut Arap Chuma through to Kipchoge Keino and great girls like Catherine Ndereba, we have set a record of a country that runs and competes clean,” Ababu said.
Ababu was speaking during the homecoming of the newly crowned world marathon record holder, Kelvin Kiptum at a Nairobi Hotel.
Kenya has been marred with cases of doping among athletes in the past with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) putting Kenya among the countries on its watch list.
In 2018, a Wada report titled 'Doping in Kenya' found 138 Kenyan athletes had tested positive for prohibited substances between 2004 and 2018.
Earlier this year in May, 10km road world record holder Rhonex Kipruto became the latest high-profile Kenyan athlete to be suspended owing to doping.
Some of the other key athletes busted for doping include; former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang, former half marathon world record holder Abraham Kiptum, Rio 2016 Olympic marathon champion Jemima Sumgong, London Marathon winner Daniel Wanjiru, triple world 1,500m champion Asbel Kiprop, his successor Elijah Manangoi and Boston and Chicago Marathon champion Abraham Cherono
The CS further cited that for young athletes, the pressure to perform leads them to cheat and use illegal substances just to win. He also went on to congratulate Kiptum for achieving an incredible milestone without doping.
“The pressure to perform and win can be overwhelming. That pressure pushes some of the athletes into cheating, doping, and using banned substances.”
“To have an athlete who has conquered the world while protected from the risk of doping is something I really want to commend him for,” the CS noted.
Ababu concluded by saying that athletics had become a high-stakes sport and there was a need to have constant surveillance on the athletes to ensure they abide by the rules set out by Wada.
“Athletics has become such a high-stakes game that we have to deal with the monster of doping every single day,” Ababu concluded.
