NAIROBI: World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe said on Wednesday he was satisfied with the progress made by Kenya in fighting doping which had threatened to make the country a sporting pariah.

Coe met with Kenyan officials in Nairobi and struck a more positive tone than his last visit in January 2023 when he warned the country faced a “long journey” to tackle the issue.

Kenya has invested massively to clean up its image after a string of drugs scandals around the 2016 Rio Olympics led to it being declared non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

In April 2023, it announced an investment of $25 million over five years to combat the problem.

Coe said progress was evident in increased anti-doping personnel, testing, investigation and education programmes.

“We are moving in the right direction,” he told reporters.

He said there were “better sys­tems in place... and we’re moving absolutely in the right direction.

“But we are coming from a little way back. We will keep faith with the system and the people I trust to challenge the scourge,” Coe added.

Nearly 130 Kenyan athletes, mainly long-distance runners, have been sanctioned for drugs offences since 2017.

In June, Kenya handed out its first lifetime ban to marathon runner Beatrice Toroitich and a six-year ban to 10km record-holder Rhonex Kipruto.

Coe warned the number of sanctioned individuals could continue to increase, but that this was due to the success of its stringent testing regime.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2025