Sad news: Kenyan athlete in France loses his running licence after ingestion of nandrolone.

Likely an issue with a burrito.

Zzzzbottom wrote:

Likely an issue with a burrito.

Unlikely, as Kenyans much prefer to consume Ugali - A carbohydrate maize product which they bring with them to France when they stay here for several weeks to six months. It is their main fuel and they cannot function without it, but it is perfectly legal.

Wonder what Travis "integrity" Tygart thinks about this

High hopes wrote:

Wonder what Travis "integrity" Tygart thinks about this

It’s a very sad case (regarding Chumba and others) and I think we have to recognize that there are a lot of desperate Kenyans who are only trying to feed their family so they are forced or almost forced to compete in road races abroad to put Ugali (their staple dish) on the table.

They often do not realize the ramifications of ingesting certain products which sometimes their coaches or agents tell them are basically harmless and without risk. I’ve seen the situation coming up time and again. Very regrettable. I get almost daily messages, on F.B. and Messenger from random Kenyan runners who wish to come to race in France. Sadly, it is not possible to help most of them. They have few options. COVID-19 protocols have exacerbated the situation massively during the past two years with no end in sight. Ironically, developing countries are acting on COVID-19 protocols in a much more harsh and dictatorial way compared with developed countries and economies.

Shelby is a convicted doper.

Another doper getting busted is happy news for those who support clean sport.

This is what you get when you go the Bahrain route recruiting de facto mercenaries. This guy, for example, has no connection, affinity or loyalty to France. His sole purpose is to make enough money to build a comfortable life for himself in his home village, not France. Ethics and morals be damned.

El Keniano wrote:

This is what you get when you go the Bahrain route recruiting de facto mercenaries. This guy, for example, has no connection, affinity or loyalty to France. His sole purpose is to make enough money to build a comfortable life for himself in his home village, not France. Ethics and morals be damned.

You are mostly correct but sometimes there are exceptions to the rule. In fact, last night I was speaking to a guy from Kenya who is originally from Eldoret and he has been living in France for the past 10 or more years and I was amazed on the phone to hear that he spoke almost perfect French which is very unusual for Kenyan people. His name is Daniel Chirchir, and he was a very average athlete in his day, by Kenyan standards, but still won some races in France for example 109 for a half marathon and 224 for the full marathon or thereabouts. He is now well established in the Marseille area, and is an agent for Kenyan runners coming to France.

I recall that Paul Tergat also amazed many people with his fluent Italian after staying many years on and off in the Brescia region of northern Italy. Impressive stuff. I believe that Paul really cashed in on his success and general savvy and is now a very successful businessman in Kenya. This is in contrast to many others who squandered their wealth on drink, women and unproven business ventures. The issue in Kenya is that once you make money overseas everyone wants to be your friend and of course you have to take care of family as well and in Kenya “family” means “extended family” - not like in the west where family means just a tiny nuclear family in most cases.

El Keniano wrote:

This is what you get when you go the Bahrain route recruiting de facto mercenaries. This guy, for example, has no connection, affinity or loyalty to France. His sole purpose is to make enough money to build a comfortable life for himself in his home village, not France. Ethics and morals be damned.

And yet when these obvious mercenary dopers go on to smash national records and push clean native runners out of national teams etc. the idiots here see it as final proof that East Africans are genetically superior runners, and that anybody who disagrees is a racist.

Yes, but you're talking about a few exceptional cases here. Kenyans generally don't emigrate in large numbers especially compared to other Africans (Nigerians, Senegalese, Malians, Ethiopians, Moroccans, Algerians, Somalis, Sudanese, Eritreans, Ghanaians, Egyptians, Cameroonians and others all have larger presences in Europe). When they do, they usually end up in Anglophone countries like the U.S. or the U.K. Canadian and Australian universities aggressively recruit Kenyan students every year through education fairs and that's how many typically start.

You may not know this Ghost, but I actually spent time as an undergrad in Nantes (hated), Perpignan (loved) and Montepellier (adored) and know for a fact that your Mr Chirchir is a very isolated case, especially in the Marseille area. As a matter of fact, I think there are more French people in Kenya than Kenyans in France because you'll find French lycées in Nairobi but nary a Kenyan restaurant (the true indicator of a settled community) or other establishments anywhere in France.

Also, important to note this case dates back to 2019.

Coevett wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

This is what you get when you go the Bahrain route recruiting de facto mercenaries. This guy, for example, has no connection, affinity or loyalty to France. His sole purpose is to make enough money to build a comfortable life for himself in his home village, not France. Ethics and morals be damned.

And yet when these obvious mercenary dopers go on to smash national records and push clean native runners out of national teams etc. the idiots here see it as final proof that East Africans are genetically superior runners, and that anybody who disagrees is a racist.

Whose fault is it, Coevett? When countries are so desperate for global medals that they embark on goverment-approved and budgeted headhunting trips to the Rift Valley for D-tier Kenyans not good enough to even warrant consideration for the testing pool. Imagine if Kenya raided Croydon every year to improve its national football team.

El Keniano wrote:

Also, important to note this case dates back to 2019.

You are correct that the case dates back to 2019 but it was only settled in March 2021 seven months ago. In the interim, I don’t know what has happened to this unfortunate runner (Chumba) who by the way was far from the top elite level but just trying to get some money for his family by running some road races in France. I’m not making excuses for what he did, but just trying to put things into context.

“Une performance qui, à ce jour, demeure sa dernière. Nicholas Cheruiyot Chumba n’a visiblement pas attendu la notification officielle de son contrôle positif, pour stopper sa carrière, et repartir vers le Kenya. Fort heureusement puisque ce n’est qu’en janvier 2020 que l’AFLD lui notifiait sa suspension provisoire. Et la commission des sanctions de l’AFLD n’allait prononcer sa suspension de 4 ans qu’en ce mois de mars 2021.”

El K. Quote: regarding Kenyan restaurants outside of Kenya.

I had to laugh at that because to be honest opening a Kenyan restaurant in a foreign country especially in Europe and North America would not be financially a good move I do not think. I mean things like Ugali and Sukuma Wiki would not be attractive/ tasty to most people outside of Kenya and a few other east African countries. This is a pity, because on a nutritional level those dishes are very healthy and contain all the required nutrients for healthy people.

In addition compared to the staples that I had when I went to Ethiopia I would much prefer the Kenyan fare/dishes. The Ethiopians have a staple (a type of savory pancake ) by the name of Injera, which I did not find so tasty but of course I’m biased and my taste buds were formed many decades ago in another country so this is understandable.

https://delishably.com/world-cuisine/30-Foods-You-should-eat-in-Kenya

When will all the Nike and BTC shills come out crying it was tainted meat?

They won't because it was garbage then and is garbage now.

El Keniano wrote:

When countries are so desperate for global medals that they embark on government-approved and budgeted headhunting trips to the Rift Valley. . . . Imagine if Kenya raided Croydon every year to improve its national football team.

To be honest this is a basic reality. If a country has a resource shortage they will seek out a country with an abundance of that resource. It can be raw materials, cheap labour or human talent, they same fundamental rules apply. When I was recruited by a Canadian company in the 1980s it was on a grand tour of Europe looking for 200 engineers. They were offering jobs on the spot. Canada couldn't supply enough graduates let alone experienced engineers so companies poached from Europe.

Interestingly there has been a shift in this trend with the improvements in the internet and network working. We have now opened satellite engineering offices in places like Poland and India. We recruit local grads but send Canadian managers over to run the operations, usually with 2 year expat contracts.

If you have a marketable talent there is nothing wrong with going to wherever you are most appreciated, and rewarded.

The only sad thing about this is that he wasn’t caught sooner.

These athletes are doing this to keep their families out of poverty. They would be happy to simply earn a living off their running.

An "anything goes" racing league should be developed for these athletes to compete against each other with no rules against PEDs so they can earn enough to feed their families and live comfortably.

Perhaps LetsRun can help organize and launch the league and provide a platform to help fund this project with a vehicle for attracting public awareness and support with "humanitarian donations" to help the "fight against poverty" in Kenya, Ethiopia, etc. Interest and funds could also be generated by offering betting at these events both in person and on-line.

Where is that pimp (in a negative connotation) Renato Canova? The doping apologist who has initially claimed, "Kenyans don't dope," then changed his story to, "top Kenyans don't dope because it doesn't benefit them," then hid under a rock once the top Kenyans started getting busted. He has made his living off of taking money accrued by dopers.

STEVE THE ADDICT^^^^^^""""""""'"--';"- wrote:

Where is that pimp (in a negative connotation) Renato Canova? The doping apologist who has initially claimed, "Kenyans don't dope," then changed his story to, "top Kenyans don't dope because it doesn't benefit them," then hid under a rock once the top Kenyans started getting busted. He has made his living off of taking money accrued by dopers.

Why should a d-level runner be representative of Kenyan elites? This is like raiding American gyms and popping people for steroids.