Kenyan athletes aiming to compete at this summer’s World Championships in Tokyo will be required to undergo three rounds of drug testing, authorities announced Wednesday, as the country continues its fight against doping scandals that have tarnished its athletics reputation.
Jackson Tuwei, the president of Athletics Kenya (AK), said that a pool of 444 contenders has been identified for the mandatory testing program. The initiative will be overseen by AK in coordination with both the Kenyan and World Athletics anti-doping agencies.
The stringent measures were first introduced ahead of the Paris Olympics and are now being maintained to ensure Kenyan athletes remain clean for the championships, which are set to take place from September 13 to 21.
“Athletes may be subject to both in-competition and out-of-competition testing,” Tuwei said during a press briefing. “Missing a test or failing to comply with testing authorities and sample collection procedures will affect their eligibility.”
Kenya’s Anti-Doping Battle Continues
Kenya has invested heavily in restoring its reputation after a series of doping scandals surrounding the 2016 Rio Olympics led to the country being declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Since 2017, nearly 130 Kenyan athletes—predominantly long-distance runners—have been sanctioned for doping violations. In March, former half-marathon world record holder Kibiwott Kandie was provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for allegedly evading or refusing a drug test.
Despite the Kenyan government committing $25 million over five years to tackle doping, the country remains under WADA’s highest-risk watchlist. WADA director general Olivier Niggli has expressed ongoing concerns, stating after a March 27 executive committee meeting that “Kenya has been a concern for a number of years.”
However, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who visited Kenya earlier in the month, offered a more optimistic view, saying he was encouraged by the progress the country has made in addressing doping issues.
As Kenya continues its rigorous anti-doping measures, the success of these efforts will be closely monitored in the lead-up to the Tokyo World Championships, where the integrity of one of the world’s greatest running nations will once again be under scrutiny.
