Ugandan athletes to attend AK seminar in Eldoret
Athletics
By
Dennis Okeyo
| Nov 28, 2019
World champion Joshua Cheptegei is among Uganda’s top athletes expected at the Athletics Kenya (AK) conference set for Eldoret December 4-7.
Themed “I chose Integrity”, the four-day mandatory, but the invite-only seminar will feature elite runners both on-road race and track alongside junior runners and will act as first preparations towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
The seminar will be a joint initiative between AK and Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) and will be attended by 300 runners. Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya will also be in attendance.
The event is divided into two parts with marathon and road runners’ doping sessions on the opening day (December 4) whose attendance is listed provided by AIU. The other three-day event will feature track and field stars and 2020 Olympics games probables.
Uganda has confirmed attendance by sending four of its top runners for the seminar and will join the list of Kenyan long-distance runners and their coaches.
The areas of discussion will include anti-doping which will be overseen by AIU, ethics, legal and contractual obligations, investment, taxation and athlete-media relations.
“The reason we have our focus on road races and marathon runners is that they present the higher percentage of athletes affected by doping. The seminar is vital for all those runners invited and their coaches and no one should miss. I can also confirm Ugandan runners will be in attendance,” said Miano.
The seminar comes at a time Kenya is still fighting categorization where the country is ranked Category A - the highest risk level together with Ukraine, Venezuela, and Ethiopia. AIU, AK and the government will have a joint press conference on Tuesday in Nairobi before proceeding to Eldoret for the conference.