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World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said Wednesday that Kenya's hosting of the 2029 World Athletics Championships could help step up efforts to combat doping, as the East African country continues to face widespread violations despite its success in international competitions.
Speaking to AFP during a visit to Nairobi, Coe said the championships would bring greater attention to Kenya's anti-doping efforts, which have come under scrutiny following a series of suspensions involving some of the country's leading runners.
"The championships will help us in that quest," Coe said, referring to efforts to clean up Kenyan athletics.
"Is there more work to be done? Yes. Will these championships lend more focus to that? Absolutely," he added.
Kenya, a global powerhouse in middle- and long-distance running, is set to host the World Athletics Championships for the first time on African soil.
Despite Kenya's strong record in athletics, doping violations have continued to raise concerns, with around 140 Kenyan athletes currently suspended, including a case announced Tuesday by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the independent body responsible for protecting integrity in international athletics.
Since 2017, dozens of Kenyan competitors, particularly long-distance runners, have received doping suspensions, more than athletes from any other country.
Among the most prominent cases is marathon world record holder Ruth Chepngetich, who received a three-year ban in October 2025 after admitting to doping.
Olympic long-distance runner Benard Kibet, who finished fifth in the men's 10,000 meters at the 2024 Paris Olympics, was also suspended in 2025, while 2021 New York Marathon winner Albert Korir received a five-year ban in March after testing positive for a prohibited performance-enhancing substance.
The suspensions have contrasted sharply with Kenya's international achievements, including its second-place finish behind the United States at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where Kenyan athletes secured 11 medals, including seven golds.
Athletics also holds considerable economic and social importance in Kenya, where limited employment opportunities and the prospect of earning money through professional sport have made running a potential path out of poverty.
Although the scale of doping remains a concern, Coe said the AIU had reported improvements in Kenya's efforts to address the problem.
The World Athletics president noted that discussions with both Kenya's previous and current national leaders had demonstrated that protecting the integrity of athletics was regarded as a major national priority.
He also acknowledged that Kenyan authorities had increased the resources available to tackle doping, although further improvements were still needed.
"We'll never be in a perfect world," Coe said, before emphasizing the progress made over the past decade.
"But we're significantly further ahead than we were when we started out on this journey in 2015."
With the 2029 championships approaching, Coe maintained that hosting the competition would provide an additional incentive to strengthen anti-doping measures and build on the improvements already achieved.
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