Kenya's reputation in athletics has once again been harmed by the controversy, even though its athletes have long dominated the long-distance race.
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Kenyan athletes have been at the center of yet another doping scandal following the discovery of a “medically-savvy operation helping athletes to try and cover up doping offences” involving fraudulent medical records by an anti-doping disciplinary tribunal called by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). The AIU has stated that the behavior amounts to “criminal conduct involving frauds” and that elite Kenyan athletes are being assisted by someone “with considerable medical knowledge to commit what amounts to criminal conduct involving frauds on the AIU”.
Kenya’s reputation in athletics has once again been harmed by the controversy, even though its athletes have long dominated the long-distance race. Following a string of doping accusations in recent years, World Athletics placed Kenya on the radar of nations with the worst doping risks in 2016. The allegation was raised after a Kenyan athlete, Eglay Nafuna Nalyanya, was given an eight-year suspension by the AIU for three violations of the World Athletics anti-doping regulations. Nalyanya was found guilty of using, possessing, and attempting to use a prohibited substance in addition to tampering with any aspect of doping control.
The three-member panel examining Nalyanya’s case observed a pattern of justification and proof from the athlete that was identical to that of her countrywoman Betty Lempus, who had been given a five-year suspension in January for two anti-doping rule breaches. Lempus and Nalyanya both asserted that they had received intramuscular injections while receiving treatment at the same hospital in Kenya and provided medical records to back up their statements. However, the AIU discovered that the documents were false, the doctors were invented, and neither athlete had received the injection.
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“It is obvious from the almost identical wording of parts of the letter from the supposed doctor [Dr. Philip Murey] in the Lempus case that it was written by the same individual as the equivalent letter in the present case,” read a statement from the panel. “The pattern of behaviour is remarkably similar in both cases. There is no possibility in our view that the athlete in the present case had the sophistication or medical knowledge either to draft the letter from Dr. Davis Lukorito Wanambisi nor the email of 24 March 2022, nor indeed to set up the scheme employed in the present case.”
Concerns have been raised concerning the prevalence of doping in Kenya as a result of the AIU’s findings and the inclusion of 66 athletes from that nation on its list of prohibited athletes. As a result, the Kenyan government has pledged $25 million (£20.3 million/€23 million) over the next five years to the battle against doping in athletics. David Howman, the chair of the AIU, stressed that the problem poses a major threat to the sport and encouraged the AIU to take all action possible to determine how this is happening. “The AIU has been asked to work with the Kenyan Government, Athletics Kenya, and the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya to attack this crisis,” he said.
The AIU‘s efforts will include a Steering Committee that will lead a special project to determine how best to use the funding and the AIU’s expert advice across various strategic areas, including testing, investigations and intelligence, and education outreach. “We are all aware of the magnitude of this challenge and we will do our utmost to find the sources of these doping operations in Kenya; to seek the appropriate punishments and protect the integrity of international athletics,” Howman said.
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