NOC-K tightens noose on drug cheats ahead of Paris Olympics
Reading Time: 2min | Sun. 03.03.24. | 15:16
To avoid a repeat of doping stain, NOC-K and in conjunction with other relevant stakeholders have departed from the past practice of athletes being subjected to three out of competition tests to having negative results before boarding the plane to Paris
In a bid to avoid the shameful doping misfortune witnessed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) has introduced a new regulation aimed at catching drug cheats ahead of the Paris showdown.
Initially, athletes flying out for major championships were subjected to three no-notice, out of competition urine and blood tests before being cleared to jet out and don the Kenyan singlet.
However, NOC-K in collaboration with the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) have changed tact and will only send athletes to Paris who will have returned negative results on the tests conducted.
Kenyan athletes find themselves under this kind of scrutiny as the country is still tucked in category A on doping watch list alongside, Ethiopia, Morocco, Belarus, Nigeria and Bahrain.
Kenya had a moment to forget in Tokyo after sprinter Mark Otieno was barred on the eve of the 100m heats after his sample returned a positive test for banned anabolic steroid methasterone that later earned him a two-year long ban.
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A similar incident was reported in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after marathoner Philemon Kacheran was reportedly suspended at a time when he was gearing up for the race.
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Former. Boston and Chicago marathon champion Lawrence Cherono was also barred from competing in the 2021 World Athletics Championships in Oregon, USA for use of a prohibited substance in a out of competition test.
To avoid a repeat of doping stain, NOC-K in conjunction with other relevant stakeholders have departed from the past practice of athletes being subjected to three out of competition tests to having negative results before boarding the plane to Paris.
"The results must come before the athletes travel unlike in the past. They must be tested and results availed before travel to ensure that we sent clean athletes," said NOC-K Secretary General Francis Mutuku while addressing a media seminar in Sagana.
With the games 145 days away, Mutuku said mechanisms were already in place and personnel had been identified and briefed on the need to have zero cases of doping in Paris.
"We have a work plan to safeguard the integrity of the sport. This includes testing protocols for in and out of competitions," added Mutuku while revealing that doping officer Martin Yauma will be tasked in ensuring that cheats don't find their way to Paris.
