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Kenya says will cooperate on re-testing athletes ahead of Rio
Athletes exercise in the early morning in the sports ground of the University of Eldoret in western Kenya, March 21, 2016. PHOTO BY REUTERS/Siegfried Modola
22/06/2016
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya will cooperate fully with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) on its latest requirement to re-test Kenyan athletes ahead of the Rio Olympics, officials said on Tuesday.
"We are one of the most tested nations. We are ready for the new requirement (of testing our athletes) because we support clean athletics," Mahoah Esipisu, spokesman for Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Every competitor from Russia and Kenya expecting to compete in Rio will have to be evaluated individually for doping and be cleared by their sport's international body, the IOC said on Tuesday.
Jackson Tuwei, the president of Athletics Kenya, said: “We have nothing to fear. We shall cooperate.”
“If that is the requirement for us to go to Rio, we shall fully cooperate. We have always done our best in the fight against doping," he said.
"The team we shall select for the Rio Olympics, will be tested fully, just as much as those who participate in the Diamond League are regularly tested,” he said.
The east African nation known for its middle and distance running pedigree has been under intense global scrutiny over doping, with up to 42 athletes failing tests in the past four years and 18 of them currently serving doping sanctions totalling 55 years by IAAF.
(Reporting by Isaack Omulo; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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