Kenya hosting 2029 World Championships will help doping fight, says Coe

Kenya hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships will help combat the endemic doping problem among its athletes, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said on a visit to Nairobi on Wednesday.

The east African nation is a global athletics powerhouse, particularly in long-distance and middle-distance running, but has seen a surge in doping cases in recent years.

Around 140 Kenyan athletes have been suspended, including a positive test announced as recently as Tuesday by monitoring body Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

"The championships will help us in that quest" for a cleaner Kenyan athletics scene, Coe told AFP on the sidelines of a press conference in Nairobi.

"Is there more work to be done? Yes. Will these championships lend more focus to that? Absolutely," he said.

The AIU is "very clear in their reports to me that progress is being made" in Kenya, he said, adding the country had come a "long way".

Kenya has won the right to host the World Championships in Africa for the first time.

Source: The Standard Sports