Kenya avoids potential doping penalties with late government investment
James Davis reports on Kenya’s athletics future after the conclusion of the 229th World Athletics Council meeting.
Kenya has avoided any form of suspension for the ongoing doping problems among its athletes, after late intervention from Kenyan government.
A letter from the country’s sports minister Ababu Namwamba, promised US$5 million per year for the next five years in the fight against doping. This has deterred any punitive action from the World Athletics Council, whose 229th meeting ended on 30 November.
Speaking at its conclusion, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said ‘real progress’ had been made in recent weeks through dialogue with the government official.
Coe expressed confidence in the changes possible with the new financial aid, saying: “This will fund more people, more tests, more investigations, and certainly bolster the already comprehensive education programmes.”
Kenyan athletes have been responsible for 40% of positive drugs tests in the sport this year, a fact mentioned by Coe, who said that the status quo was ‘certainly not something that World Athletics was prepared just to sort of sit and allow to develop’.
Athletes and fans alike will hope that the stimulus will tackle what some perceive to be issues in the wider culture around the sport in Kenya, and Coe noted this in his remarks.
The four-time Olympic medallist added he hoped for ‘a deeper dive into the conduct of the entourage that is around some of the athletes, including coaches and athlete representatives.’
Whether the significant financial package correlates with a reduction in doping positives in Kenya will likely have a strong impact on how it is perceived.
If doping goes down, the contribution looks like the vital shot in the arm that has stopped a potentially ruinous problem.
If nothing changes, then US$25 million pales in comparison to the potential cost of continued doping at the highest level of the sport.
Apart from Kenya, Coe also announced the 2024 World Athletics Relays are to be held in Nassau, The Bahamas, returning to the city after seven years.
The Caribbean nation hosted the first three editions of the event in 2014, 2015, and 2017, before the competition travelled to Yokohama, Japan in 2019, and Chorzów, Poland last year.
China’s 2023 event in Guangzhou, has been postponed to 2025 due to the country’s zero-covid rules.
Coe also set out plans for the World Athletics Road Running Championships, due to be inaugurally held in Riga, Latvia next year, to become an annual event from 2025.
The competition, which grew out of the formerly biennial World Half Marathon Championships, has the addition of 5K and mile events, and will include a mass participation element at each distance.
In a connected move, Coe announced the addition of the road mile to the list of world record events from 1 January next year.
This move could prove attractive for plenty of British milers including the likes of Jake Wightman, Laura Muir, and Jemma Reekie, all of whom have taken titles at New York’s famed 5th Avenue Mile in recent years.
Read more: End in sight for Russian athletics’ doping ban, says World Athletics
