New doping scandal in Kenya: Asbel Kiprop tested positive for EPO
Nordstad Moen about the doping work in Kenya: - Non-existent
Once again Kenya and the country's lack of doping work are in focus. Kiprop claims to have been notified of the control that he was pushed for money and that the tests were tampered with.
By Magnus Gamlem
(Dagbladet): Doping work in Kenya is again in the spotlight. Earlier this week, the Olympic champion and three-time World Cup winner Asbel Kiprop were taken for use by EPO, but the 1500-meter race is far from unique.
In a country that has bred more of the world's largest long-distance runners, Kiprop is just the tip of the iceberg.
Over the last five years, more than 50 Kenyan athletes have been taken for doping. And even this vast scale probably shows only part of the full and complete truth about the doping culture in the country.
"It's a shame for the sport, and especially for us. It's a contradiction to other athletes when someone is taken to use performance-enhancing drugs, Kiprop told BBC after more of the countrymen had been taken in 2015.
Now he himself has become one of them.
It is one of the most unique places of sport. The village of Iten has for many years served as a place of residence for high-level training, and is the place where the Kenyans go for the best. Thousands of practitioners have been through the training site, and have gradually helped establish Kenya as the dominant nation in long-distance running.
In the midst of all the hardy Kenyans, Norse Sondre Nordstad Moen is located. He has been in Iten for a large part of the year and has come close to the training culture in the country.
Dagbladet talked with him a few hours before the first reports of Kiprop came out, and the Norwegian had this to say about his perception of anti-doping work in the country.
"It has been almost non-existent until the last years. When you know how much money you can get by winning big races and how corrupt it is in that country you can imagine the rest. Many runners come from humble cows, and many are willing to sacrifice everything to reach the top. It is politics and money that governs sports now more than ever before, Nordstad Moen believes in the conditions in the African country.
He is even under strict and thorough doping control.
"I'm still being tested," says Nordstad Moen, who visits Antidoping Norway several times a year.
He came seriously on the radar of the Norwegian people when he ran the fastest marathon of a non-African in December last year.
In an Athletics Norway, bubbling over by young, exciting and forward-looking athletes, the 27-year-old has emerged as the long-distance hope.
He says it's hard to jump over 200 kilometers a week through the winter in Norway, without spending much of the day on the treadmill, and has therefore chosen to have Iten, Kenya as the training arena.
"Therefore, I'm looking for good training environments, and here in Kenya there are unbelievably many who bet 100 percent. You can go to the other good places and train in height, but the motivation is different here. Here are many who bet on everything from 10,000 meters to the marathon, and I can switch between training with different types of runners. It is absolutely unique, says Nordstad Moen.
He went to Kenya earlier this week and will be there on Bislett Games on June 7th.
The case around Asbel Kiprop is about to develop into a farce. After the B test also gave a positive impact on EPO, the practitioners have been in the defensive position, claiming that the tests must have been tampered with.
Messages, such as the German journalist Hajo Seppelt have received, must indicate that Kiprop was notified by doping guys the day before. Later he must have been pressured for money by the same inspectors.