Coe: Nairobi 2029 will "lend more focus" to Kenya's anti-doping work
On his first visit since Nairobi won the hosting rights, the World Athletics president said progress has been made but the work is not finished.
In short: World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in Nairobi on 14 October 2026 that hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships will help Kenya's fight against doping, AFP reported. He said more work remains but that Kenya is "significantly further ahead" than in 2015.
Sebastian Coe said in Nairobi on Wednesday 14 October that Kenya's hosting of the 2029 World Athletics Championships would help its fight against doping. "The championships will help us in that quest," he told AFP on the sidelines of a press conference. "Is there more work to be done? Yes. Will these championships lend more focus to that? Absolutely."
Coe said the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) is "very clear in their reports to me that progress is being made" in Kenya, and that the country is "significantly further ahead" than when the anti-doping work began in 2015. He added that "we'll never be in a perfect world".
He said AIU testing is "more intense, it's more extensive, and it's much more intelligence-based led than it was under the old system", Pulse Sports reports. Around 140 Kenyan athletes have been suspended, according to AFP.
It was Coe's first visit to Kenya since Nairobi was awarded the 2029 Championships in September, K24 reports. They will be the first World Championships held in Africa. Kenya finished second on the medal table at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo with 11 medals, seven of them gold. More on Coe's visit.