The problem is that the doping is so endemic that it has destroyed the sport. A ban would at least signal recognition of the scope of the problem. Every major marathon and half marathon winner is doping. Every WR is chemically induced. It becomes impossible to take the sport seriously on the pro level bc everyone knows it is a sham.
It's good they're now targeting lower tiers, something no other country is doing. I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of Esther Birundu Borura. This is like busting club runners, for you slower countries.
This is a total shame for the sport!!! I dont know in history any other country that has so many athletes at the same time busted basically for one event , Distance Running. A shame that they still allow them to race and win all over the world. it 's just a huge farce. Zero credibility. It's just a matter of who want to risk more . for some years make enough money and then retire
It's good they're now targeting lower tiers, something no other country is doing. I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of Esther Birundu Borura. This is like busting club runners, for you slower countries.
A 3015 athlete is not low tier. Kenya needs to step up its antidoping. These athletes are committing fraud and cheating others who follow the rules out of international appearnces, perhaps forcing them into a life of poverty. Kenya's doping bans are too leninet and Kenya's testing is too infrequent.
It's good they're now targeting lower tiers, something no other country is doing. I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of Esther Birundu Borura. This is like busting club runners, for you slower countries.
No it is not. She came 3rd at the Valencia 10K. She's a professional runner, and she quite likely would have gone on to earn a considerable sum (by Kenyan living standards) from road running.
IDK…. one’s got to think about the effect of these, ahem, back-alley interventions on the athletes long term health.
Perhaps a ban, draconian yes, would dull the incentive to take these risks and excite runner associations there into protecting their members better? These busts make the news but what sort of adverse effects are produced by injecting these cocktails into consumers who have no idea at all what it is that’s going into their bodies?
Bans for individual athletes already exist. So why would a country-wide ban be any different of a deterrent? It would be a deterrent for the country overall, sure. But we have basically no evidence Kenyan authorities are sponsoring/shielding doping. In fact, with the amount of athletes they're busting it seems it's the exact opposite.
If you wanted to make a country-wide deterrent, you'd do something like this: -Minimum number of tests (already done) -Maximum number of positive tests allowed (unintended consequence here is that instead of pushing Kenyan authorities to target dopers/suspicious athletes, this might do the opposite) -Targeted bans of doping facilitators (camps/coaches/agents, the problem is you would like to link the doping to these individuals and not just make assumptions).
Right now, it seems to me they are catching a lot of people, casting a wide net, and guaranteeing nearly any athlete that competes on a big stage is as tested as an AIU RTP member. Again, it would be more alarming if they'd ramped/widened up the testing like they have and they weren't catching people.
It's good they're now targeting lower tiers, something no other country is doing. I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of Esther Birundu Borura. This is like busting club runners, for you slower countries.
A 3015 athlete is not low tier. Kenya needs to step up its antidoping. These athletes are committing fraud and cheating others who follow the rules out of international appearnces, perhaps forcing them into a life of poverty. Kenya's doping bans are too leninet and Kenya's testing is too infrequent.
The bans are not lenient, and Kenya is testing more than any other country in the world.
It's good they're now targeting lower tiers, something no other country is doing. I'm pretty sure no one here has ever heard of Esther Birundu Borura. This is like busting club runners, for you slower countries.
No it is not. She came 3rd at the Valencia 10K. She's a professional runner, and she quite likely would have gone on to earn a considerable sum (by Kenyan living standards) from road running.
No. She's nobody by Kenyan standards. Would never get a sniff of the national singlet.
The reason PED's are banned is that athletes are generally irresponsible in so much that many will do anything to get better/earn money and do not care about future health repercussions. The answer for Kenya (it's not only small fish doing other runners out of income by cheating but majors winners etc) is to hold prize money for a buffer period so they do not get paid if they test positive. The European coaches and managers must also need to get bans. It's the same faces over and over again.
Hmmmm ….. do national associations and coaches care about individual athlete’s welfare or do athletes present as nothing more than fungible meal tickets?
I have the sense the Kenyan state doesn’t much care for athletes’ welfare.
Perhaps a state under whose control athletes got stipends/allowances or even basic health insurance and pensions would have more of a say on what athletes chose to inject into their bodies.
My sense is that athletes’ voluntary associations, their clubs and welfare groups will be the right point at which to intervene.
Would be interesting to see a logical argument for this “theft”. I don’t mean to dispute the framing, just sticks out as odd and wanting elaboration.
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Following your post, I looked up the numbers. The average tea smallholder has an annual household income of $850. Even tripling that considering corn, dairy and various off-farm incomes doesn’t get you much more.
You are right, that’s so grim I can sympathize with the pressure to do whatever it takes to win that $10,000 pay day.