Athletics Kenya have urged athletes to either take responsibility of their actions or stay away from performance enhancing drugs.
Speaking at Kapsabet in Nandi County after visiting various athletic camps, AK president Jack Tuwei urged athletes to run clean. This comes a week after reports that Olympics marathon champion Jemimah Sumgong had tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO (erythropoietin) in an out-of-competition test carried out by the sport’s world governing body, IAAF.
However, Tuwei declined to comment on the issue further, saying the investigations on the athlete are still ongoing and she will face the consequences if found guilty.
“The investigations are still on and we can’t comment much on the matter at this point. What I can tell athletes is that they should be responsible for what they take. Consequences are there and we can’t spare those tainting the county’s image,” Tuwei said.
He said there is a procedure to be followed in addressing such matters.
“As AK we don’t condone any upcoming or established athletes who are using performance enhancing drugs. Let the process be followed and finally we will know the truth. However, culprits must be prepared to face the punishment,” he added.
Kenya is still on the World Anti-Doping Agency watch-list of countries with doping problems and Sumgong’s case seems to have further worsened the situation.
The federation has been holding sensitisation workshops and seminars for all the stakeholders in athletics in a bid to empower them as they seek to stem out doping.
Though such efforts have been made including the formation of Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya and the campaigns to eradicate the menace, the problem seem to be creeping back.
“Sensitisation and empowerment is vital and that is what we have been doing. Kenya has made tremendous steps in the fight against doping and we are keenly following the recent doping scandal to establish what happened,” said Tuwei.
“You know we are still on the watch-list and as we head to World Championships, we don’t want anyone to doubt us. I want to urge the athletes to strictly adhere to the spirit of competition by running clean,” Tuwei explained. Athletes representative Milcah Chemos warned athletes against pointing fingers until investigations are concluded. “Many of you have rushed to blame others but we should wait for the investigations to be completed. Meanwhile, I want to urge you not to be misled into using performance enhancing drugs but train naturally and win easy in a bid to safeguard your career,” said Chemos.
Paris Marathon winner Cyprian Kotut, Tokyo Marathon third finisher Dickson Chumba, Paris Marathon bronze medallist Solomon Yego, Seoul Marathon winner Amos Kipruto also encouraged their colleagues to rely on natural talent.