Renato Canova wrote:
Before 2010 there was not a doping problem in Kenya. At that time, nobody asked for some external help, and was not necessary to teach to the athletes they had to be clean believing in their training only.
For that reason, I never spoke about doping with Rita Jeptoo (who was always in the camp in Iten) or with Lucy Kabuu, that I met only for the workouts coming from their house.
The problem started in 2012, before OG in London, and I was the first speaking about it with the Chairman of AK, Isaiah Kiplagat. From that year, we started to see strange people, that nothing had to do with the athletics, going to the local road races trying to go in touch with many "coaches" (really not coaches, but people having a small group of athletes and working with some management) promising them that could have had big advantages taking something they could administrate, for the percentage of 15% (the same like managers) on their prizes.
One of them went to speak with Patrick Sang, asking him if he was a coach : this clearly shows that those people didn't know anything about athletics.
Instead to face the problem, Isaia Kiplagat decided to hide the problem itself, denying there was doping in the Country.
This behavior, and the lack of specific education, caused a big improvement of a bad mentality, in both runners of short and long distances, in some area (especially around Kapsabet). The 90% of the Kenyan positive come from Kapsabet or from some small village, and they used EPO for training more. Their results improved because of the increased training, not because of doping, and the increased training was possible, in their mind, only with strong supports, legal like supplements, or illegal like EPO (something that is absolutely not true : it's possible to have the same quantity and quality of training without taking anything, and athletes like Kipchoge clearly show this).
For shorter distances, instead, the blood doping had the goal to enhance the level of aerobic power for athletes who didn't want and din't like to use this type of training, based on fast long continuous run and long tests on track at high intensity, the only way for enhancing the aerobic support.
About all the athletes spending long time with me, nobody had any idea to take some substance for supporting his training : I speak about Shaheen, Nicholas Kemboi, James Kwalia and many other in the period of Qatar (till 2010), and about Florence Kiplagat, Moses Mosop, Sylvia Kibet, Caleb Ndiku, Abel Kirui later, till the current group including Ronald Kwemoi, his young brother Samwel Chepolei, and the HM runners Erick Kiptanui, Daniel Kipchumba, JosphatBoit and the WCh oif cross country Irene Cheptai.
With Chinese athletes the main problem was the lack of communications, and this was the main reason because I resigned after WCh of Beijing in 2015, also if my contract was till the end of 2016. The translators didn't know anything about athletics, and too many times I discovered their explanation was not correct, and the athletes were not able to understand what I explained. And in any case, nobody of the athletes of the National Team remaining with me from October 2013 till WCh of Beijing took anything (Anna Yin was aggregated to the National Team only at the end of July 2014 because won a race of steeple in 9'41" running alone in July, and I already explained several times she had unusual values during the first blood test we had for all the team in Duoba, and after this I asked for a doping control and she was banned).
You need to understand that there is difference between athletes who stay with the coach (also in the camp) with continuity for several years, and athletes that you see once every month giving them a program only. In the first case, I can put my hands on fire they are all clean, because I know them, their discipline, their mentality, their moral values, their character, and they know me and my assistant coach John Litei, who is a real hammer about discipline and loyalty.
I can confirm that, when we stay long time with some athlete, we can clean their mentality. They believe in training only, and have in front of them the examples of WR holder who never took anything. They look ahead, not behind their shoulders, where maybe there are doped athletes who run slower than them.
(And I continue to be curious about the "many other athletes" associated with me in the past, and caught for doping).