Rugut: Kenya has not lost doping war
Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) chief executive Japhter Rugut says Kenya has not lost the fight against doping despite the high number of athletes caught cheating.
Speaking during a breakfast show on Emoo FM yesterday, Rugut said Kenya remains on track in its effort to eradicate cheating.
He said ADAK will do everything to have a fair and clean sport for all.
“We are on track in our effort to clean up sport in Kenya and fulfill the mandate to educate our athletes to know the details about the doping problem that faces them,” said Rugut.
Rugut said his agency will intensify efforts to eradicate the vice ahead of the rescheduled Tokyo olympics.
He said the agency would enhance anti-doping campaigns across the country through outreach programmes in order to sensitise officials and athletes on the dangers of using banned substances.
“Let’s win clean and fair. I urge you to desist from using drugs in sports,” he said.
Rugut observed that by competing clean, athletes attract sponsorship opportunities.
He said ADAK had set aside funds towards the fight against doping for the national team preparing for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games.
“We will do the out-of-competition and in-competition tests and we will have a clean team presented to Tokyo. We will do this in partnership with Athletics Kenya,” said Rugut.
He said this is a part of the plan to win the fight against the scourge, which has left the country facing a backlash over the huge number of tests that have come back positive and left over 60 athletes banned from competition.
ADAK has so far conducted 4,116 tests in four years since their inception, of which 3,552 are urine samples while 545 were blood tests to help root out doping.
This has yielded 120 positive cases, which have led to several athletes being sanctioned.
Kenya, together with Ethiopia, Ukraine, Belarus, Nigeria, Bahrain have been placed in Category A by World Athletics meaning their athletes are likely to cheat.
Former world marathon record holder and London 2012 Olympics bronze medallist Wilson Kipsang is the most high-profile Kenyan runner banned last year.
The two-time London Marathon winner was banned for four years on June 24 last year for falling foul of Whereabouts Failures rules.
