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NAIROBI – Kenyan sprinter Boniface Mweresa has failed a doping test and been dropped from the team for the African Championships which starts in Asaba, Nigeria on Wednesday, a senior official from the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has told Reuters
Samples from Mweresa, who won silver in the 400m and gold in the 4x400m at the 2015 African Games in Brazzaville, were taken to the June 6-8 Kenya Defense Forces Championships in Nairobi and contained a banned substance, the official said on Tuesday.
The Kenyan delegation traveled to Asaba on Monday with Mweresa, who was a member of the team at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships in Moscow and London respectively and at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Gold Coast
Mweresa, 24, could not immediately be reached by Reuters but the athlete told local media he was innocent and had taken ADAK.
"Declaring that he too k supplements do not make him innocent if we find banned substances in his samples, "the ADAK official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.
Mweresa, who would have been a medal prospect at the African Championships in the Delta State city of Asaba, told local media he would challenge the decision at the Kenyan Sports Tribunal.
Athletics Kenya, Athletics Kenya, traveled to Asaba for the African Championships and could not be reached for comment.
Kenya is renowned for its middle and long distance running prowess but the east African nation's athletes have suffered more than 50 failed doping tests in the past six years.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent global body that Kenyan-born Olympic steeplechase champion and world record holder Ruth Jebet, who runs for Bahrain, is being investigated after returning a positive
The AIU also confirmed in May that Kenya's Olympic form and three-time world champion 1,500m, Asbel Kiprop, had failed a test for EPO. Kiprop has denied the law and is being heard at an IAU court being held in London next month.
The sport's world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said on Friday
Athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Belarus and Ukraine will be tested in the 10 months ahead of world championships and Olympics. They are in the category of a "member of the federations at the risk of doping."
Previously, the obligations under the anti-doping code were mainly in the memberships of the members
The AIU recommended the new regulations to the IAAF as a crucial step in protecting the integrity of the sport
Reuters
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