Kenya suspends 33 athletes – Francs Jeux

Never seen. Daily nation reports that the Kenya Anti-Doping Agency (ADAK) has sanctioned a record 33 athletes, all suspended for anti-doping rule violations. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the penalties come from athletics (26), but three other sports are also affected: basketball (3), rugby (3) and handball (1). Among the suspended athletes is Joshua Belet (photo above), 26, who won last year’s Amsterdam Marathon (2 hrs 04 mins 18 secs). Rugby player Brian Wahinya, who played for the national team, is also on the list. In fact, the ADAK announcement is no real surprise. In fact, it was expected much earlier, late last year, when the agency’s director general, Sarah Shubutse, hinted that around fifty athletes would be suspended. But things dragged on. And the list was eventually narrowed down. As a reminder, Kenya’s political authorities have increased the financial resources available to ADAK to fight doping by $5 million after World Athletics threatened to suspend Kenya. According to the Kenyan daily, these increased resources will allow ADAK controllers to travel more regularly to the country’s training camps to conduct out-of-competition tests.