KIPROP'S HOME TOWN IN SOMBRE MOOD
Athlete’s doping failure hits the people of Eldoret and Iten hard
THE residents of Eldoret and Iten, considered Kenya’s home of distance running, are hurting following official confirmation that former Olympic and world 1,500 metres champion Asbel Kiprop has tested positive for the banned blood-booster EPO.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), an independent body handling doping matters on behalf of the sport’s governing IAAF, earlier on Friday confirmed media reports that the 28-year-old three-time world champion over 1,500m had failed a dope test.
The case is now with an International Association of Athletics Federations’ disciplinary tribunal and the 28-year-old Kiprop, one of Kenya’s most decorated athletes, could face a fouryear ban.
There was a sombre mood on the Eldoret streets among the local people and in Iten, Kiprop’s home town, where the residents discussed the doping situation in subdued tones.
“This one has hit us where it hurts most,” Moses Kiptanui, a three-time world 3,000m steeplechase champion, told
Reuters.
“Marathon runners failing dope tests was almost becoming normal. But when it came to the 1,500m, we were shocked. More so, Asbel (Kiprop), whom many youths looked to as a role model.
“We are mourning. From rural to urban areas, this has shaken everybody to the core,” he said.
Kiptanui, who runs an Eldoret department store, said the lack of tough anti-doping laws coupled with a laxity among Athletics Kenya (AK) officials and Kenyans’ predilection for manipulating rules will bring the country’s top sport to its knees.
“Officials with vested interests, who are attracted by perks, and not the love of the game, are ruining the sport. Even with anti-doping laws in place, we don’t have policing which specialises in anti-doping matters,” said Kiptanui, who blew the whistle on doping problems in Kenya in 2003.
However, Barnaba Korir, a member of the Athletics Kenya Executive Committee, defended the local governing body, saying Kenyans must accept that the country has a doping problem.
“Let us accept that there is a problem and agree on how to tackle it. Blame game won’t help. Kenyans are still in denial yet this doping thing is festering,” he said.
“Athletes are not children. They are responsible for what goes in their bodies. AK only sensitises and educates them on doping matters. They take full responsibility for their actions,” he added.
Kiprop alleged that testers extorted money from him, an allegation the AIU did not address. He also claimed that the testers might have interfered with his sample.
The AIU, which was set up to combat all forms of corruption and ethical misconduct within athletics, was satisfied there was no interference with his sample but conceded that Kiprop had been given advance notice that he would be tested.
This contravenes the World Anti-Doping Agency’s guidelines stating that out-of-competition tests should be conducted without notice to athletes.
Kiprop also alleged that he was being pressured to accept that he doped so that he could be made an IAAF ambassador against doping, an allegation the AIU rejected.
The North Rift Valley towns of Eldoret and Iten, some 350km north-west of the capital Nairobi, rank distance running as their biggest foreign exchange earner.
They take so much pride in their athletes that Eldoret has the name ‘city of champions’, Iten is known as the ‘home of champions’ while Kapsabet to the south, birthplace of twice Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino, is the ‘source of champions’.
Marathon runners failing dope tests was almost becoming normal. But when it came to the 1,500m, we were shocked. More so, Asbel (Kiprop).” MOSES KIPTANUI