Poverty, quick financial gains driving athletes to doping

Poverty and the lure of quick financial gains are among factors pushing some Kenyan athletes towards doping, the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) has warned.

ADAK Acting Chief Executive Officer Peninah Wahome said athletes must be prepared not only physically but also mentally and morally to resist pressure to use prohibited substances.

Her statement was read by ADAK Acting Director of Standards and Compliance Dr Martin Yauma during the Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK) Annual General Meeting.

Ms Wahome said stakeholders in Kenyan sport should ask whether athletes are adequately prepared to make the right choices when faced with pressure to win.

She said preparation should go beyond kilometres covered, hours spent in training camps and personal best times.

“Is the athlete prepared to say no?” she posed.

She challenged athletes to resist coaches, managers or other members of their entourages who encourage them to use substances or supplements whose contents and origins are unknown.

According to Ms Wahome, athletes who are physically well prepared can still be vulnerable if they lack adequate education and support.

She identified economic desperation as one of the factors that can make athletes susceptible to doping, particularly when sport is viewed as the only route out of poverty.

“When sport is the only visible ladder out of poverty, the pressure to win by any means becomes almost unbearable,” she said.

The agency also raised concern over unqualified coaches, agents and other members of athletes’ entourages.

Some athletes, Ms Wahome said, are surrounded by people without adequate knowledge of sports science, physiology and anti-doping regulations.

This can expose athletes to banned substances or unsafe supplements, sometimes without their full understanding of the risks involved.
Weak anti-doping education and testing infrastructure, particularly outside major training centres, was also cited as a concern.

Ms Wahome said athletes should have access to accurate information instead of relying on rumours or advice from unqualified individuals when making decisions about supplements and medication.

She further warned of a culture of silence in some training environments, where athletes who suspect doping may fear speaking out because of possible retaliation, loss of opportunities or strained relationships with coaches and sponsors.

ADAK called for confidential and accessible reporting channels to enable athletes, training partners and concerned members of the public to raise concerns without fear.

Ms Wahome said prevention should be built around four key pillars early education, a properly trained athlete entourage, confidential reporting mechanisms and intelligence-led testing.

She said anti-doping education should begin in schools and talent academies before athletes reach elite competition.
Coaches, doctors and agents working with athletes should also be properly qualified and regularly trained on anti-doping rules.

The agency further called for testing strategies that use intelligence and risk assessment to target disciplines, regions and athlete profiles where the risk of doping is considered higher.

Ms Wahome challenged sports journalists to play a greater role in promoting clean sport.

She said the media should go beyond reporting medals and victories by investigating suspicious training environments and asking questions about dramatic improvements in performance.

“Did you win?” should not be the only question asked, she said, urging journalists to also ask how the victory was achieved.

The agency also urged Kenya to invest more in sports science as an alternative to prohibited performance-enhancing substances.

Investment in physiology, biomechanics, recovery, nutrition, workload monitoring and data-driven coaching can help athletes improve performance through legitimate means.

Ms Wahome said federations must also take greater responsibility by funding athlete welfare and education programmes, vetting coaches and agents and protecting whistle-blowers.

She warned that anti-doping should not be treated as a public relations exercise that only becomes important after an athlete tests positive.

Instead, prevention should be integrated into the day-to-day management of Kenyan sport.

For a country whose global sporting reputation has been built largely on athletics, Ms Wahome said protecting the integrity of its athletes requires collective responsibility from federations, coaches, managers, journalists and the athletes themselves.

“The medal is only the final sentence in a much longer paragraph,” she said.

She called for the development of athletes who are prepared not only to run fast but also to compete clean.

“Let us build, together, an athlete who is prepared not only to run fast, but to run right,” she said.