Let’s not relent in fight against doping in sport
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Sights of just one Kenyan athlete — Amos Kipruto — on the starting line of the elite men’s race at this year’s London Marathon were disturbing. Equally worrying was the fielding of just one Kenyan — Barnabas Kiptum — at the recent 50th edition Honolulu Marathon in Hawaii.
The solitude notwithstanding, these two athletes went on to maintain the enviable Kenyan podium tradition with Kipruto winning in London and Kiptum coming through in second place behind Ethiopia’s Asefa Mengstu on the streets of Honolulu.
The dwindling Kenyan elite list may be attributed to various reasons, but, principally, concern over rising cases of doping in Kenya has made race directors globally hesitant in dishing out invitations to our runners.
The situation is bound to be worse in 2023 if nothing visible and convincing is done by responsible authorities to stem the vice.
One of the world’s leading athletes’ managers dropped a message to me on Boxing Day, highlighting his concerns over the increasingly worrying trend:
“There are so many problems going on. Especially the doping issues in Kenya which is worrying!,” the ‘A’ class agent lamented.
“If Kenya does not clean up the mess, they/we will all be out of business! It’s really worrisome! These cheats are killing our sport! We are missing out on (new) sponsors and internationally, they don’t take our sport seriously anymore. I am really worried,” the manager, who handles some of the world’s leading athletes, expressed his concerns.
New Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has already hit the ground running, pledging a $5 million-a-year (Sh616 million-a-year) increased funding for anti-doping processes.
Recently, Athletics Kenya held a retreat with various state agencies with a view to forging a multi-pronged attack on the increased cases of violation of anti-doping protocols. We only hope such gathering will lead to prosecutions.
Kenya might have been given another lifeline by World Athletics, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) following the government’s financial guarantees in the fight against doping, but players in sport need to see action and deterrent action meted on the cheats, not template promises.
Mere suspension by the AIU doesn’t seem to be deterrent enough as our recalcitrant athletes still feel they can get away with murder, investing their ill-gotten gains in personal pleasures with the comfort of knowing that no agency will attack their bank balances.
The year 2023 will see another action-packed season, starting right from the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, on February 18, to the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from August 19 to 27, with the busy Diamond League and Continental Tour fixtures in between.
It is a year we must redeem our global image by restoring Kenya’s enviable reputation as a nation of clean runners who train hard and win easy.
And the fight should not be confined to athletics only, but to all other sporting codes as we feverishly build momentum towards the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Only when we see perpetrators of the vice tried and shoved behind bars shall we know that we are winning the war against drug cheats.
Promises of action and bigger financial allocation to the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya alone won’t sanitize the process if the guillotine receives no heads.
There should be no sacred cows as I’m convinced that the criminals are well known to the authorities, some of whom are spoilsports on the tab that conveniently choose to turn a blind eye, seeking not to upset the apple-cart, or derail the gravy train.
Let’s keep fighting for clean sport.
Happy (dope-free) holidays!
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A message of condolences to veteran colleague and Sports Journalists’ Association of Kenya President Chris Mbaisi and family following the loss of your mother, Mama Rose Rhoda Mbaisi. Losing a parent isn’t easy at all. I wish the family strength.
I also join my cousins, the Okoras, in mourning the loss of our brother George Morara Okora in Louisiana, USA. George will be interred in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday.
May the sad ending to 2022 transform to better fortunes for the New Year, 2023. BY DAILY NATION
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