Four avoidable exclusions to Olympics-bound Team Kenya

Four Kenyan athletes who made the qualifying marks for Olympic Games that began on Wednesday, 21 July, two days ahead of the opening ceremony set for July 23 will not compete in Tokyo for various reasons that said athletes insist is no fault of their own. 

Probably the more popular of the four is 18-year old Kamar Etyang’s case who was rendered ineligible to compete in Tokyo for failure to undergo three out-of-competition tests as required by Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). The athlete had initially indicated that they had requested to be included in the Anti-doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) testing pool which had not been done by the time he competed at the trials finishing second.  He has since been replaced by world champion Timothy Cheruiyot.

Attempts by Athletics Kenya (AK) to have the runner exempted from this requirement so as to compete in Tokyo, subject to anti-doping tests between now and the competition date were unsuccessful as AIU said it was not possible. 

Meanwhile, fast-rising hurdler Moitalel Mpoke, who won silver medal in the last World Under-18 Championships held in 2017, punched his Tokyo Olympics ticket with a 48.89 performance in NCAA 400m hurdles but will miss the showpiece after a whereabouts violation claim by AK, which he denies committing spoiled his chances of featuring at the Games. 

"(Sic) I am so sorry I can’t compete at Tokyo Olympics 2021 even though I have been preparing well despite all the challenges I went through towards this event and I met qualifying Olympic standards. I also went through the three tests as required and send them (AK) the results but the issue is they claim they sent World Anti-doping Agency to my house to get tested and I am very sure nobody came because I was at my house preparing for my final exam and didn’t receive any call at all. I am very disappointed. Hopefully, I will see you all next season,” Mpoke wrote on his social media platforms. 

I did not violate WADA rules: Mpoke

A coach privy to Mpoke’s situation, who sought anonymity claims that the athlete’s tests were done by a private lab through his university and could not be accepted by either the federation or bodies mandated with verification of the same. 

The latest exclusion in the team were race walkers Samuel Gathimba and Emily Ngii. ABCNews reported that their qualifying times at the Kenyan trials were not certified because there was not a World Athletics official from outside the country present.

Team Kenya for Olympics General Team Manager, AK’s Barnaba Korir said the federation tried to arrange for Gathimba and Ngii to compete at an event in Spain to qualify but were not able to arrange that in time because of Covid-19 travel restrictions. 

Korir told Nation Sport that the duo did not make it after ranking outside the entry requirement of 60 upon the closure of the qualification window on June 29 despite having attained the qualifying time at the national trials held at Kasarani. Gathimba broke into dance after crossing the finish line in 1:18:26 to surpass the Olympic qualifying standards of 1:21:23 while Ngii also walked right into the qualifying standards of 1:31:00, after winning in 1:30:56.