Amos Abuga @PeopleSport11
Former Africa 800m bronze medallist Agatha Jeruto and sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala lead the list of elite athletes who will not be allowed to take part in the All Africa Games trials due to their previous doping suspensions.
Jeruto who failed a doping test during out-of-competition mission in 2015, has just returned from serving her suspension.
Omanyala has equally served a six-month ban him too for having failed a doping test.
Athletics Kenya (AK) Executive Committee member Barnaba Korir says Kenya must always strive to win the war against doping and that allowing athletes ,who have tainted image ,will not be good for the body.
Run clean
“It is sad that we continue to lose top athletes to doping. Athletics Kenya obviously regrets the development and reiterates that athletes must run clean,” he said. “There has to be stiff regulations meant to discourage athletes from doping. Athletes should be aware that once you are caught doping there will be no room for you to represent Kenya in the future,” said Korir.
The Nairobi branch chairman says the stand against doping will not affect the named athletes alone but all the other athletes who have doped before and even served their sentences.
Kenya might end up fielding a second string team to the Africa Games as more elite runners confirm they will skip the national trials and the finals in Rabat, Morocco in August.
