World marathon record holder and Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA.
World marathon record holder and Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge has expressed his concerns over the increase in the number of doping cases among Kenyan athletes.
In an exclusive interview with Nairobi News, the 38-year-old marathoner also spoke about the negative health effects that come with consumption of performance enhancing drugs.
“Let each and every athlete make it a personal decision to protect their career and health. When you consistently use performance enhancing drugs, your health deteriorates. This affects your sporting career and personal life,” Kipchoge said on Tuesday night during the launch of the Tecno Phantom X2 Series phone in Nairobi.
The athlete was recently unveiled as Tecno’s brand ambassador.
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The recent banning of several Kenyan athletes for doping has placed the country on the spotlight amid the risk sanctions from World Athletics.
Some of the effects of prolonged usage of performance enhancing drugs include heart attacks, severe headache, high blood pressure, heart failure, thyroid problems and diabetes.
In the wake of the increasing cases of doping among Kenyan athletes, the government is now seeking to criminalise the vice, with Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba describing the doping menace as a ‘crisis’.
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“Kenya is in the midst of a doping crisis which is threatening to shatter the very fine glitter of Kenya as a sporting nation. We have rogue agents who do not seem to pay any regard to the laws of the land. We will catch them. We have a plan to end this mess,” Namwamba said.
According to Kipchoge, serious training is the best route an athlete can take towards reaching their targets.
With 15 victories out of his 17 marathons, Kipchoge’s only losses have been a second-place finish behind Wilson Kipsang Kiprotich at the 2013 Berlin Marathon, where Kipsang broke the world record, and an eighth-place finish at the 2020 London Marathon.
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