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Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya was embarrbaded by the international community in 2016 when a series of doping scandals brought the nation, known for its distance runners, to a disqualification from the Rio Olympics.
"It was a time when Kenya was facing a huge challenge in terms of the very integrity of our sports," said Japhter Rugut, who heads the Kenya Anti-Doping Agency (ADAK), created following the scandal.
Kenya has moved to Rio. But while the sports authorities promised to put their actions in order, Kenyan athletes proved more difficult to convince.
A year after the scare, Jemima Sumgong – who in Rio won Kenya's first Olympic gold medal in the women's marathon – gave a positive result in search of the banned substance, erythropoietin (EPO), and was suspended.
In 2018, Asbel Kiprop, three-time world champion and 1500-meter Olympic winner, was tested positive for EPO and was also banned.
According to a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released in September 2018, 138 Kenyan athletes tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs between 2004 and August 2018.
The report concluded that nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, corticosteroids and EPO were the substances most used by local athletes.
However, it was found that there was "no evidence of an institutionalized" doping system in Kenya.
Thirty-six Kenyan riders are currently suspended, according to the Athlete Integrity Unit.
– Sensitization –
Nevertheless, efforts to clean up the sport are beginning to bear fruit.
Since its inception, the number of anti-doping tests conducted by ADAK has increased tenfold, from a hundred in 2016 to 1,150 in 2018.
He has created biological pbadports for about 40 elite athletes in order to track their data over time, a development made possible by the opening of a blood test laboratory approved by the AMA in Nairobi in 2018.
ADAK, under the slogan "Stay Clean, Win Right", has also launched a national awareness program for athletes, coaches and medical personnel.
In accordance with the guidelines of the International Association of Athletics (IAAF), Kenyan athletes selected for the 2019 World Championships that will start in Doha in September will undergo at least four blood tests and tests. urine.
"Qualifications will be made on time and testing," said Jackson Tuwei, president of the Kenyan Athletics Federation.
"We have clearly explained to all our athletes that those who want to be born must also qualify by being tested."
But beyond the elite level, the fight against doping remains a monumental challenge.
Four thousand top athletes are enrolled in the athletics federation – four times more than in France for example – stretching their surveillance resources.
These athletes see race – and victory – as the only way out of a life of poverty, and are not detected by controls if Kenya focuses on its top athletes.
"There are easily more than 500 top marathoners … so it's hard for the federation, given its limited resources, to monitor and control every athlete," said journalist Elias Makori.
"Every weekend, dozens of Kenyans win marathons around the world."
– "A culture of honesty" –
"In East Africa, unlike anywhere else in the world, hundreds and hundreds of professional athletes are living very well in the road race," said Brett Clothier, director of the 39. Integrity Unit of Athletics (AIU), a supervisory body set up for the police. doping in athletics.
"Many of these athletes (…) are never tested out of competition.
"These athletes have the motivation, the opportunity and the financial means to strengthen themselves, resulting in a strong demand for doping products."
For Brother Colm O'Connell, legendary coach of two-time 800m Olympic champion David Rudisha, athlete education is at the heart of the fight against the plague.
"I also think that we need to instill in our young people, as they grow up in the ranks, become athletes, we need to establish a culture of honesty, of fair play, so that the young people can not do it. we can win without winning without winning, "he said.
There are other important obstacles.
Nobody traces the doping substances stored in pharmacies and hospitals. The regulation of athletic agents is lax. Allegations of corruption have also tainted efforts to clean up the sport.
Even the identification of athletes can sometimes be problematic, with runners registered under different names from one document to the other.
Political support is also not badured. Kenya's parliament reduced ADAK funding by nearly 15 percent this year, bringing its budget down to about $ 2.5 million (€ 2.2 million).
As the Tokyo Olympics get under way in less than a year, Kenya is confident it will prevent the Rio Games controversy from recurring, even though there is still work to be done.
"For the moment, there are signs that our joint efforts are working and that we are on the right track," Clothier said.
"The bottom line is that the fight and close collaboration with AIU are continuing."
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