More effort needed to curb doping in athletics

By Armstrong Rono

Kenya: Kenyan athletes have been on the spot since allegations surfaced that there could be extensive doping amongst them. Investigations are underway.

Doping is currently a universal problem that follows international sporting events. Sports federations have tried to stop the vice, with little success. In reality, new, more potent and undetectable doping techniques and substances are now abused by athletes, while intricate networks of supply have developed. 

Performance-enhancing programmes and drugs are not the select prefecture of elite athletes, but have spread to high schools and health clubs. As demand increases, trafficking drugs at schools and gyms becomes common and the use of drugs is now seen in younger and younger populations. There is a correlation between doping and drug abuse. 

Kenyan athletes are currently on top of the world; they win almost all the important middle and long distance races with ‘ease’. This has obviously attracted attention and inspired suspicion from friends and foes. They do not believe the athletes are powered by mursik and ugali but by a potent drug.

I admire our athletes for their amazing skills and boundless determination. In my neighborhood, I watch hundreds of these athletes train in the wee hours, often barefoot or in oversized torn sports shoes. They sweat in the morning rain and run on muddy paths in order to succeed in life.

Most of these athletes come from humble backgrounds and athletics is their only hope for a better life. I would be the first to cast doubt on their prowess, had it not been that I interact with them daily. I doubt doping is as widespread as alleged among Kenyan athletes.

But there could be a few bad elements out there owing to the amount of money linked to winning in today’s athletics industry. Multimillion shilling contracts, appearance fees, global endorsements plus sports merchandising represent a billion dollar trade that offers athletes, their sponsors and associates previously unheard of financial gains.

I believe in a level playing field. Sports are about pursuing excellence through competition, demonstrating one’s innate talents and skills achieved through practice and hard work. They are not about assuming possible positions for individual or political achievement, engineering performance and winning at all costs. A win in the field should be a victory for the athlete, not a feat for a high-priced chemist.

Today, there are several hundred forms of known and potentially more unknown doping substances and techniques abused by professional athletes. The most commonly abused substances include anabolic androgenic steroids, human growth hormone (hGH) and erythropoietin (EPO).

The substances and methods used to dope have health consequences; steroids increase aggression and mood swings, impotence, premature baldness, a deepening voice for females and psychological dependence. By thickening blood, EPO abuse can lead to heart disease, stroke and cerebral or pulmonary embolism. Performance enhancing sources include trainers, doctors, friends, the black market and foreign suppliers.

Sports performance can be enhanced through diets, training routines and hard work without using harmful varieties of mechanical, physiological and pharmacological doping techniques.

Continuing educational programmes developed for the youth by the government and Athletics Kenya are significant first steps to containing these dangerous behaviours. Testing for performance-enhancing drugs in training camps and schools as a means of early detection, intervention and prevention should be set up.

Sports organisations, schools, professionals and coaches must all be made aware of this problem and contribute to its solution by open, honest discussion. Our sports federations need to confront their denials and insecurities and consult the right professionals.

Most significantly, professional athletes must serve as role models and voices for drug-free sport and lifestyle. This point must be supported by the media and sports federations by providing steady leadership and advocacy of anti-doping programmes in athletics, regardless of the costs and consequences. Some of our athletes’ behaviour outside the field has been depressing.

Acknowledging the enormity of doping and developing education, prevention and treatment programmes are the only ways to prevent the spread of doping in athletics, and its influence on the youth.

The writer is a drug abuse consultant and Chairman, Kenya Association of Addiction Counselors.