2 Kenyan runners test positive for doping at worlds
BEIJING (AP) — Two Kenyan runners have tested positive for doping at the world championships and have been provisionally suspended.
Joyce Zakary, a 400-meter runner, and hurdler Koki Manunga tested positive for unspecified substances in targeted tests after competing in Beijing, the IAAF said Wednesday.
Zakary was second in her opening heat on Monday, running a national record of 50.71 seconds in the 400. But the 29-year-old Kenyan did not run in the semifinals a day later despite having the eighth best qualifying time.
Manunga ran in the opening heats of the 400 hurdles on Sunday and finished sixth of seven, failing to reach the semifinals.
The Kenyans have 13 athletes currently serving doping suspensions.
The sport has been hit by doping allegations in recent weeks, with German broadcaster ARD and The Sunday Times newspaper in Britain reporting that they had obtained access to 12,000 suspicious blood tests involving 5,000 athletes.
The report says Kenya had 18 medals won by athletes under suspicion over more than a decade.
At this year's world championships, Kenya was leading the medal standings after four days with four golds and nine overall. Some of those medals were won by veterans, including Ezekiel Kemboi and David Rudisha, who have been tested regularly for years.
Ankle injury not to be blamed, says Walcott
BEIJING—Reigning Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott is suggesting that an ankle injury is not to be blamed for his elimination from the Javelin event at the World Championships on Monday.
Walcott was eliminated after placing 26th out of 33 competitors, managing only two legal throws, 75.16 metres and 76.83, his best effort.
“I just went out there, tried to perform well but it was just a bad competition,” said the Trinidadian athlete who set three new records for 2015.
“No other explanation, just a bad competition. Of course, I expected better throws but I do not know what was going on.”
Walcott, 22, entered the championships as one of the pre-event favourites with a personal and season best of 90.16m. However he has been battling an ankle injury which he said did not hamper his performance.
“The distances were way off and you can see the results,” he said. “There was a lack of competition for me since my ankle injury but my ankle held up good today and I am thanking God for that. But I would have to say it was a bad competition because I was really out of it”. Walcott says he is considering ending his season to allow his ankle injury to completely heal in time for the next season.
“So I just have to go back and continue working on it because I do not want to start back training with any problems. I think I am going to call the season there, and continue working on my ankle,” said Walcott. (CMC)
Bledman’s comments shock Olympic boss
President of the T&T Olympic Committee (TTOC), Brian Lewis, has expressed surprise at statements attributed to sprinter Keston Bledman after he pulled up during the first round of the 100 metres at the World Championships currently being held in Beijing.
Speaking after pulling up, Bledman said: “My season is done here. I have to pull out of all my meets. There is now no relay team because we were already down to a bare four, and sorry to say, this is on Trinidad. I told them, and my coach told them it was not smart for me to go to the Pan Am (Games). I do not know who it is, NAAA or TTOC, but I more feel it is TTOC because it is like we giving you guys funding, so once they call you, you have to come but (look at) no one sent their top athletes there, but I had to go. There is a need to listen to the athletes sometimes. It is not always about funding. Yes, you giving us funding but there are times when you listen. In the end it was not in God’s plans for me today.”
Clearly-astonished Lewis told the Trinidad Guardian: “I was very surprised to read what was said and I can understand the depth of his frustration, based on all that I have read and the situation in China where his aim was to do much better for all of us. At the TTOC, it is the same, we all want our athletes to attain their goals.” He said it was always the policy of the TTOC to ensure that an athlete’s welfare, health and future is first priority. “I can categorically without fear of contradiction say that we will never force an athlete to run where there are concerns over an injury. I have spoken with both the chef de mission, Dianne Henderson and the chief of the medical staff for the Games in Toronto, Dr Terry Ali, and both have no knowledge of such.” Lewis, who has started a campaign to benefit athletes under the banner ‘10 or more Olympic gold medals by 2024’ said that people who know him will know that he is athlete centred and athlete driven. “I do not know who may have told Keston this but it was not the TTOC.”
Lewis explained that while it was the TTOC’s belief that the best athletes should represent their country and they normally will have consultation with all related national organisations on such, there is a process if an athlete has to miss a games.
“All the athlete needs to do is to present a medical certificate showing the injury status and of course certainly we will ensure he is withdrawn.” Lewis called on Bledman to contact the T&TOC. “If the TTOC can assist him with any of his medical needs at the moment, he should contact us and we can sit down with him and his team and work something out because Keston, like all our athletes is very important to this athlete driven Olympic body.”