Death, depression and doping: the dark side of the medal for Kenyan athletes

The Kenyan athletes They are among the best long-distance and middle-distance runners in the world, but their achievements are often hidden serious mental health problemstragically illustrated by recent deaths.

Earn to live and support the family: the cycle is vicious and leads some of the star athletes from this East African country to doping, addiction and violence. Likewise with the scourge of gender violence.

Since 2017, more than 80 Kenyan athletes have been sanctioned for dopingaccording to the World Athletics Integrity Unit. Once suspended, they have to face a sharp drop in income, causing financial, physical and mental problems for several years.

On October 6, Kipyegon Bettthe 800 meters bronze medalist at the 2017 World Championships, died in hospital in his hometown of Kericho in western Kenya due to alcohol-induced kidney and liver failure. i just have 26 years.

Bett, one of the most promising middle distance runners in Kenya, is suspended for four years in 2018 after testing positive for EPO.

“He went into depression and started drinking a lot,” his sister, Purity Kirui, explained to AFP, deeply disturbed. Bett, he said, ignored calls from his family to resume training after his suspension in 2022. As a result, he failed to return to a high level.

On the same day of the announcement of his death, the body of the obstacle runner Clement Kemboi was found about 250 kilometers away, in Iten, the famous altitude training center in western Kenya.

“We cannot ignore that there is a problem,” Barnaba Korir, a member of the executive committee of Athletics Kenya, the athletics federation, told AFP. “The recent deaths show that athletes face significant challenges, including financial and mental health issues.”

After these deaths, Julius Yegoa silver medalist in the javelin at the 2016 Olympics, has called for measures to better protect Kenyan athletes.

“The issue of mental health of athletes suspended for doping is worrying”he stressed to AFP. “These athletes feel isolated and have to fight their problems literally alone, without any support from Athletics Kenya or their former representatives and coaches.”

Yego deals with a former distance runner who is facing great hardship after a four-year suspension.

The deaths of Bett and Kemboi come as the close-knit Kenyan athletics community is reeling from the loss of three other athletes. Also in October, the famous marathon runner Samson Kandie53, was murdered in a brutal attack and, in September, another marathon runner, Willy Kipruto Chelewafound dead

The circumstances of these deaths remain under investigation and four people, including Samson’s wife Kandie, appeared in court this week.

But in a country where a third of the 52 million inhabitants are living below the poverty line, the income of athletes makes them attacking targetshe told AFP Asbel KipropOlympic 1,500 m champion in 2008, now retired.

“It is sad to see that this phenomenon is spreading. “Athletes should be more careful,” he pointed out, citing the case of Kandie, who suffered a fatal attack in front of her home in Eldoret.

Kiprop, who now works as a police officer, believes that being in law enforcement is often the only way athletes can ensure their safety. “Otherwise, good personal discipline is essential,” he says.

Another melon destroying the country is gender violence, which in 2024 claimed the life of Ugandan Olympic distance runner, Rebecca Cheptegeidoused in gasoline and suffered fatal burns caused by his former partner in Kenya, where he lived and trained. The cases of Kenyan women Damaris Muthee Mutua and Agnes Tiropwho was also murdered through sexist violence, has been in turmoil in recent years due to the inaction of the competent authorities.