John Anzrah was sent home after he was found with runner Ferguson Rotich’s Olympic accreditation card, and after he had provided a urine sample for a doping test and signed forms in the name of Rotich, Kenyan team leader Stephen Arap Soi said.
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Kip Keino, a Kenyan running great and chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), said sprint coach John Anzrah was sent home after a drug test at an Olympic venue.
Apparently, Anzrah is not the only official from the Kenya’s Olympic team who was sent home after a scandal regarding drug allegations.
The concerns over Kenya’s doping problem were so large that at one point the country’s participation at the Olympics was under threat.
The country had twice failed to meet Wada’s requests for anti-doping mechanisms to be put in place, with athletes facing special testing before the Games.
While Anzrah was sent home by the Kenyan team, the International Olympic Committee didn’t say if there would be any repercussions for Rotich.
Rotich reportedly said he could protect athletes from doping controls because he is a senior track federation official in the region and knew when the official testers would be targeting athletes, according to the newspaper.
Rotich has denied the allegations. He was fourth in the World Championships previous year and has a PB of 1:42.84.
In another bad news story, Bulgarian runner Silvia Danekova has tested positive for a banned substance and has been temporarily suspended pending the test of her B sample, two sources familiar with the case said on Thursday.
The IOC has set up a disciplinary committee to investigate. Mr Anzrah was not immediately available for comment.
Last weekend, Kenyan track team manager Michael Rotich was sent home after undercover reporters alleged he sought a 10,000 pound ($13,000) payment from them to help athletes evade doping tests back in Kenya.
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The Sunday Times report cast even more suspicion on Kenya’s track and field program days ahead of the start of the athletics events at the Rio Olympics on Friday.
