Listen to This Article Enhance your reading experience by listening to this article.

Kenyan athletes found to have cheated should not look for scapegoats but instead carry their own cross.

That was the verdict from the annual doping conference attended by more than 200 athletes and officials from Athletics Kenya and Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) at an Eldoret hotel yesterday.

Christened ‘I choose Integrity’, an AIU analysis at the conference revealed that 74  per cent of the podium finishers in Gold Label road races were not included in out-of-competition testing pools as required, hence the need for the workshop to enlighten them on the dangers of not doing so. 

Doping menace

AIU has partnered with Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) and AK to popularise their newly-launched Road Running Integrity Programme for 2020.

“Those who will be found to have used banned substances will carry their own cross. Do not blame anyone because that is why we have these workshops to educate athletes but some of them do not listen,” said AK Central Rift branch Abraham Mutai.

World 800m record holder David Rudisha said education is important in curbing the doping menace in Kenya.

“We are privileged to have a team of AIU here in collaboration with AK and ADAK. I am happy they are doing their best to see to it that this sport does well since Kenya is an athletics powerhouse,” said Rudisha.

AIU official Thomas Capdevielle wan non-committal if Kenya will be removed from the doping watch list, saying: “At the moment, there has been a lot of cases which complicates the matter.”