Wages of doping is inglorious end of career, steer clear!

At this time when the whole world is focused on fighting coronavirus, it is not only sad but disappointing to read stories of some of our athletes testing positive for doping.

Early Tuesday, we woke up to a story that Kenyan Daniel Wanjiru, the winner of the 2017 London Marathon, had been provisionally suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit. The AIU noted that a charge had been issued against Wanjiru for “use of a prohibited substance/method”.

Under anti-doping rules, the 27-year-old cannot participate in any competition until a hearing has taken place into the allegation.

Wanjiru won the 2016 Amsterdam Marathon and finished eighth and 11th in the past two London marathons.

BIOLOGICAL PASSPORT

To be honest, athletes should know by now that with the biological passport there is nowhere to hide and they should either do the right thing or change careers.

At the Athletics Kenya/AIU seminar last December, we talked about all these things and I thought the message had sunk in well and clear to all concerned.

Surely in this era, one cannot build an athletics career through doping. The way things are going at the moment, athletes have no choice but to run clean. There is no place for shortcuts in athletics and the earlier we all realise that the better.

We all have examples of athletes who have been banned in our midst and we have the first-hand experience of how they are doing. This is why athletes must ask themselves hard questions about where they want to take their career.

We can’t end a decade talking about one thing yet we all know the consequences.

DRIVING A CAR

This is just like driving a vehicle with no insurance sticker and hoping that the policemen will not catch up with you.

In as far as AK is concerned, we are with AIU in this war against doping and any athlete trying it should know that he or she is on their own.

This was after Wilson Kipsang, former marathon world record holder and bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympics, was provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures and tampering with samples.

Kipsang’s management company denied the case which involved the use of doping and tampering with the doping test.

Last year, Kenyans Asbel Kiprop, Cyrus Rutto and Abraham Kiptum were all given four-year bans. Over 60 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for anti-doping rule violations in the past five years.

Korir is Athletics Kenya’s Nairobi branch chairman. [email protected]