Nairobi (AFP)

After close to the exclusion of the 2016 Olympics for a succession of doping cases, Kenya has introduced measures that are beginning to bear fruit. But this country full of talented runners is still far from being rid of this scourge.

Kenya has more than 100 Olympic track and field medals for a good thirty titles, since its debut in 1956. These are the exploits of Kipchoge Keino in Mexico City in 1968 (gold on 1500 m) then in Munich (gold on 300 m steeple), of David Rudisha on 800 m in London and Rio, and armadas of runners on the biggest marathons of the world.

However, three years ago, the country narrowly escaped humiliation, only in extremis the right to participate in the Rio Games, after adopting an anti-doping law that provides for criminal sanctions against doped athletes. and suppliers of banned products.

"It was a time when Kenya was facing a huge challenge in terms of integrity," says Japhter Rugut, head of the Kenya Anti-Doping Agency (Adak), created this period.

While 2016 marked a turning point in the authorities' approach, it did not totally solve the problem.

Some big names have fallen recently, such as in 2017 Jemima Sumgong, Olympic marathon champion in Rio, or the following year Asbel Kiprop, Olympic champion in 1,500 m in 2008 and triple world champion.

Abraham Kiptum, world record holder for the half marathon, was suspended provisionally last April for irregularities in his biological passport. Thirty-six athletes are currently suspended, according to the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

But Adak's efforts are beginning to pay off. And they were needed given the 138 cases in Kenyan athletics recorded by the World Anti-Doping Agency between 2004 and August 2018. The AMA states that nandrolone, an anabolic steroid, corticosteroids and erythropoietin (EPO) are the substances most used by athletes in a country where there is no "evidence of an institutionalized (doping) system".

- Awareness program -

Since 2016, the Adak has multiplied by 10 the number of doping tests to reach 1,150 in 2018. The Agency targets the figure of 1,500 for 2019, including 1,200 already made mid-May.

In 2018, a WADA-approved blood laboratory was opened in Nairobi and the biological passport allows Adak to analyze over time the data of some 40 elite athletes.

In accordance with the requirements of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF), Kenyans selected for the 2019 World Championships in Doha (27 September-6 October) will be submitted by then to a minimum of four blood and urine tests.

"The qualification will be by the times and tests," said Jackson Tuwei, president of the Kenyan federation (AK). "Those who want to go to the Worlds must also qualify by being tested."

But beyond the elite, the challenge remains immense because of the number of individuals to watch. Some 4,000 high-level athletes are registered with the AK, four times more than in France, for example.

"There are easily more than 500 top marathoners (...), so it is difficult for the federation, given its limited resources, to monitor and control each athlete," said journalist Elias Makori.

"Every weekend, dozens of Kenyans are winning marathons around the world," he says, explaining that many of the junior athletes see doping as the only way out of a life of misery.

- 'A culture of honesty' -

"In East Africa, unlike anywhere else in the world, hundreds and hundreds of professional athletes live very well in the road race," says IAU director Brett Clothier.

"Many of these athletes (...) are never tested out of competition," he says. (They) have the motivation, the opportunity and the financial means to dope, and so there is a high demand in doping products ".

For Brother Colm O'Connell, legendary Irish missionary coach of two-time 800m Olympic Champion David Rudisha, athlete education is the foundation of everything.

"We need to instill in our young people, as they grow, a culture of honesty, fair play, and that you can win without (you dope)," he insists.

Many other problems remain: non-existent traceability of doping substances provided by pharmacies or hospitals; laxity in the control of athletes' agents, sometimes unscrupulous; the difficult identification of athletes, whose names sometimes differ according to their identity papers, etc.

Corruption is also often presented as a brake on anti-doping. And the support of the politicians is not completely acquired. Parliament decided this year to reduce by more than 10% the budget of Adak, to 2.5 million dollars (2.2 MEUR).

But one year from the Tokyo Games, Kenya thinks it has done enough to deserve its participation, even if the balance remains precarious.

© 2019 AFP