Athletes launch ‘Run Clean’ campaign to fight doping in Kenya

What you need to know:

  • PAAK brought together hundreds of athletes during the launch of the drive dubbed “Run Clean” at University of Eldoret.
  • Jeptoo is Kenya’s most celebrated athlete to be banned after Mathew Kisorio’s two-year sentence that ended in July last year.

Athletes drawn from across the country on Saturday launched a campaign to fight doping under the umbrella of the Professional Athletes Association of Kenya.

PAAK brought together hundreds of athletes during the launch of the drive dubbed “Run Clean” at University of Eldoret.

The use of banned substances in sports by several elite Kenyan runners has threatened to cripple the sport in the country.

Rita Jeptoo, winner of double titles at Boston and Chicago Marathons, is serving a two-year ban after she tested positive of a performance boosting drug.

CELEBRATED ATHLETE

Jeptoo is Kenya’s most celebrated athlete to be banned after Mathew Kisorio’s two-year sentence that ended in July last year. Kenya’s decorated name in athletics has been put under severe scrutiny following the high profile positive tests with athletics officials playing blame games.

“The wave of doping is so dangerous, so much that if nothing is done to arrest the menace, Kenya maybe banned from participating in International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and International Olympics Committee (IOC) sanctioned competitions,” NOCK chairman Kipchoge Keino said recently in Nandi County.