Behind the bans: Why Kenyan athletes are falling to doping violations

Kenya's Edward Zakayo Pingua competes during the men's 10,000m final athletics event at the Alexander Stadium, in Birmingham on day five of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, central England, on August 2, 2022. (File, Standard) The country's athletics stars continue to fall by the wayside as the doping menace rears its ugly head in Kenya. Anti-Doping Rule Violations are causing jitters as Kenya remains in Category A of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) compliance watch list. It is even getting more worrying as bigger numbers of athletes with the potential of flying the country's flag in international championships are getting caught every month. A look into what those accused of violating the anti-doping rules, which include use of prohibited substances and missing tests by dodging Doping Control Officers (DCOs) among other violations, mirrors a rot that can potentially cause tougher sanctions on Kenya, a powerhouse in athletics. For instance, former world Under-20 5000m champion Edward Zakayo and Olympian Edinah Jebitok are among the latest to face sanctions. He joins among others holders of the 10 mile world best performer Bernard Koech, who was on Wednesday provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). Koech, who finished fifth in the men's 10,000m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was suspended following an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) anomaly. He was among eight others sanctioned by the unit. Zakayo, who is in the latest list of sanctions published by the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK), has been banned for two years, was charged with willfully and knowingly failing to file his whereabouts and not avail himself two times for sample collection within a period of 12 months last year. In one of the allegations, ADAK told the Sports Dispute Tribunal (SDT) that a Doping Control Officer (DCO) who had gone to Zakayo's Kapsait training base to collect samples found out that the athlete had reportedly left the country for a competition a week prior and had not returned hence resulting in a missed test being recorded against him. ADAK said a DCO was informed in Kapsait that Zakayo had since left the camp for Iten, another training base. Zakayo told the tribunal that in one instance of failure to update his whereabouts, he lost his phone and sim card in Lisbon, Portugal and in another, he was bereaved. "With respect to the first whereabouts failure, the Respondent attributes this to the loss of his phone and SIM card during a trip to Lisbon. These devices, according to the Respondent, contained access information to his ADDAMS account where whereabouts information is updated. "Regarding the second whereabouts failure, the Respondent claims he was returning from a competition in Spain when he received news of a bereavement. He alleges that he traveled to a rural village in Narok for a burial on 3rd February where there was no electricity or phone signal. The Respondent states that he informed his coach through a WhatsApp message that he was bereaved, but due to the coach's absence, there was a miscommunication and ADAK officials were informed that the Respondent was still participating in a cross-country race in Spain," Zakayo's lawyer told the tribunal. Bravin Kiprop, a Sevilla half marathon winner was slapped with a two-year ban after confessing to the presence of salbutamol, a performance-enhancing drug. Salbutamol is used to relieve symptoms of asthma and works by relaxing the muscles of the airways into the lungs, which makes it easier to breathe. But can enhance performance when used by a healthy sportsman or woman. "I accept that samples A 8022790 and B 8022790 collected from me on July 12, 2024, contained prohibited substance Beta-2 Agonist/salbutamol included in S3 of the 2024 prohibited list published by WADA," Kiprop, who has finished in podium positions in several local cross country contests including Iten and Discovery Kenya said in a tribunal documents available in ADAK website. Delvin Meringor, a Kenyan-born Romanian athlete will be out for three years after conceding defeat in an ABP adverse finding. According to ADAK, the Athlete Passport Management Unit's review, incorporating expert analysis, confirmed that one or more of her samples exhibited an Adverse Analytical Finding consistent with the presence of a prohibited substance or method. "Delvine Relin Meringor has admitted to the violation by signing the Admission of ADRV document. In her admission dated 10th January 2025, she acknowledged the prohibited findings in her blood passport samples, collected on diverse dates," ADAK said. Panuel Mkungo, who represented Kenya at the African Games in Accra, Ghana last year and finished sixth, is in trouble but lucky to have managed to reduce sanctions to a one year ban. Mkungo contested multiple presences of prohibited substances after persuading the sports disputes tribunal that he had applied for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). The athlete convinced the tribunal that he had no intention to cheat after using the substances purely for medication for injuries he picked during races. "On or about September 2023, I participated in training and subsequently in a race wherein I sustained mild injuries to my limb and lower back, which, although not severe at the time, began to affect my overall performance as a marathon runner. "Following this incident, I presented myself at Mother Francisca Mission Maternity and Health Centre Hospital in Kapsabet where I was diagnosed with knee discomfort, thigh pain, gastritis and chest arthritis and was prescribed with the medication and an injection as per my medical card which I gave the original to the Applicant," Mkungo told the tribunal. He went on to say: "Accordingly, between September 2023 and February 2024 I was in an out of treatment and had to similarly use supplements which I gave details to the Applicant among these were Celecoxib B, Iron supplements, Vitamins, Lobak which is a painkiller, centrum, multivitamins and magnesium. "I do not know whether the medication I was given was original or generic and whether in the circumstances of the case they could react with my system and blood to produce the adverse testing results witnessed," he said in his defence. ADAK on the other hand insisted that samples collected from Mkungo were transported to a WADA - accredited Laboratory in Sweden, Doping Control Laboratory - Karolinska University Hospital - Huddinge. The agency argued that the Laboratory analysed the A Sample in accordance with the procedures set out in WADA's International Standard for Laboratories. Analysis of the A Sample returned an Adverse Analytical Finding ("AAF") for the following S1.1 Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS)/ Pregnanediol, Androsterone, Androstane, Ketoetiocholanolone, Androstanediol, Etiocholanolone, Adilos, Epitestosterone and Testosterone. "The Respondent athlete's Adverse Analytical Finding (AAF) was not consistent with any applicable TUE recorded at the IFBB for the substances in question and there is no apparent departure from the IFBB Anti-Doping Regulations or from WADA International Standards for Laboratories, which may have caused adverse analytical findings," ADAK through its lawyer Bildad Rogoncho told the tribunal. "The Anti-Doping Rule Violation has been established as against the Respondent," the Elynah Shiveka-led tribunal ruled. It went on to direct: "The maximum sanction of One year ineligibility is hereby imposed because a plausible explanation has been advanced for the AAF. The period of Ineligibility shall be from 2nd July 2024, being the date of the Mandatory Provisional Suspension, until 1st July 2025. All competitive results obtained by the Respondent Athlete from and including 12th March 2024 are disqualified including prizes, medals and points." Jebitok was banned for two years for whereabouts failure while Caroline Jeptanui will not be racing for four years for allegedly failing to submit to sample collection. Jeptanui, the 2024 Kilimanjaro Half Marathon winner did not appear before the sports tribunal to answer to her charges. "The athlete absented herself from the entire proceedings before the tribunal," the Edmond Kiplagat-led panel noted in its ruling.

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