Cheating doping testers requires more and more cunning methods from athletes who are hungry for success, but many still dare to try regardless of the risks. Often there is a person in the background, a “mastermind”, the brain of the plan, who has the mind of a criminal.
This spring, two doping cases from Kenya with confusing similarities have become public. Top marathoner Betty Lempus was banned from competition for five years in January and a middle distance runner Eglay Nafuna Nalyanya in March no less than eight years of doping ban. Nalyanya’s particularly long suspension came from the use of anabolic steroids and sample tampering.
Both cases involved fake medical reports that the runners had been given intramuscular injections at the same hospital.
The Athletics Integrity Unit, which oversees the ethics of athletics, found out together with the Kenyan Anti-Doping Agency that the doctors listed in the certificates did not exist and that the injections in question had not been administered. According to AIU’s discipline, the medical reports of both runners are most likely written by the same person. However, both of the runners had been in the hospital on the days they indicated in their medical certificates, but the reason for the visits has not been found out.
– It appears that a person or persons with considerable medical knowledge are helping elite Kenyan athletes to break the law and defraud the AIU. It’s not just a single case, the evidence shows it’s a pattern of behavior. We find this activity extremely disturbing and urge the AIU to take all possible steps to find out how this is happening, the AIU Disciplinary Tribunal stated in your announcement (you will switch to another service).
For serving on the board of the international athletics federation, World Athletics Antti Pihlakoski the case of two Kenyan runners is familiar.
– Such falsification of medical certificates is an amateurish activity. I don’t know how many “masterminds” have been used for it. Of course, it reflects the fact that the temptation to use doping is great and in Kenya there are pop men who try to promote athletes in this matter, says Pihlakoski.
Pihlakoski says that he is hopeful that anti-doping issues are going in a better direction in Kenya.
– Our own (Athletics) Integrity Unit does detective work and investigates who is behind these things. Only removing the masterminds will remove the problem. We are doing our best to eradicate illegalities in very good cooperation with the Kenya Athletics Federation, the government and the Anti-Doping Agency. Some success has already been achieved and some of these people have been removed from the picture.
The Kenyan state unearthed millions
Why has the shadow of doping fallen over Kenya? When looking for a reason, one must remember what an exceptional athletics country Kenya is.
– There is enough front and level on the running side. There are thousands of athletes who would do well in international competitions if they could. The improvement in the financial situation that running can make possible is a great inducement to commit illegalities. It has created a black market where doping has been carried out by various pop men and experts, Pihlakoski opens.
The cases of 31-year-old Lempus and 26-year-old Nalyanya are not unique. More than 40 Kenyan runners were accused of doping in 2022. The number is so alarming that the International Association of Athletics Federations is not content to just be concerned about the level of doping control in Kenya, but it set such strict limits for Kenya at the end of the year that the country’s government ended up tripling the financial resources for anti-doping work.
Instead of just over two million euros, Kenya is now investing more than seven million euros a year in anti-doping work and has promised to do so for the next five years. The money will be used for doping testing, anti-doping training and an investigation carried out together with the AIU into which persons are running the doping activities.
Kenya has also changed its laws. Today, the use and sale of doping are crimes in the country that can result in a prison sentence.
Of the less than ten countries that are under special scrutiny by the International Association of Athletics Federations due to poor anti-doping work, Kenya has the most carts. Other countries struggling with the doping problem include Morocco, Ethiopia and India. Russia, on the other hand, is still closed from international competition not only because of the state-led doping program but also because of the war of aggression that the country has started in Ukraine.
Carts will continue to come
Athletics was shaken in April by a big doping news. Born in Kenya but representing Kazakhstan, the reigning world champion in steeplechase Norah Jeruto was placed on a temporary suspension due to a doping violation. According to the AIU, there are inconsistencies in Jeruto’s biological passport, which may indicate, for example, the use of blood doping or the epo hormone.
International superstars are rarely caught doping these days.
– AIU tests everyone in the top 40 in the world statistics regularly during the competition season and outside the competition season. It is, of course, a deterrent for elite athletes. The problem in Kenya is primarily focused on the wannabe runners behind the top, who, by Kenya’s standards, receive big cash prizes from various street races around the world, Pihlakoski states.
Pihlakoski believes that there will be more carts from Kenyans in the future, as the testing has been expanded. The International Association of Athletics Federations has made an agreement with various marathons and street running events to increase doping testing. Most of last year’s wins came from street races.
– In the testing, we will now go deeper into Kenya’s statistics. One hundred athletes of their own sport can be tested. It means that Kenyans are still suffering, but at the same time the problem is eliminated more permanently, says Pihlakoski.
The prizes of the prestigious Boston Marathon went to Kenya on Monday, and there were several Kenyans in the top ten. The reputation as a powerhouse of endurance running is well-deserved.
– I personally believe that clean food is the key to success there. It’s a shame that there is also doping in the crowd, says Pihlakoski.