Uncertainty as five Kenyan athletes are disqualified from Olympics

The fate of African High Jump champion Mathew Sawe and the 4x400m relay quartet’s participation in this year’s Rio Olympics is still unclear, with the latest reports saying they have been asked to vacate the team’s training camp in Eldoret.

This comes as the Kenyan Chef-de-Mission, Stephen arap Soi tried to influence the inclusion of Sawe in team Kenya.

Soi has criticized Athletics Kenya (AK) for not piling pressure on the International Association of Athletics Federation to include the high jumper in the team, as it is the duty of the International Federation to approve the names of athletes who have qualified.

“I will put this into perspective, Mathew Sawe according the IAAF records had not qualified for the High Jump and for that reason he will not be part of the team travelling to Rio,” Deputy Chef-de-Mission James Chacha underscored.

“We have also received confirmation from Kenya’s Chef de Mission Soi who is already in Rio that the 4×400 relay will also not be participating in the Olympics. We have since advised the athletes to vacate the camp.

“The B standard in this case does not guarantee any athlete entry or qualification to the Olympics because Kenya is classified on a higher level than the other countries and chances of being considered are very slim,” he explained.

Sawe jumped 2.21 meters in South Africa to win the African title for the first time, but his best effort was 0.08 centimeters short of the required Olympic qualifying mark although it got him a B-Standard qualification.

“In terms of Sawe not going to try it in France, it is not NOCK who denied him that opportunity, this was a decision that was made by AK and the athletes are only taken over by the Olympics Committee once they have already qualified,” Chacha added.

The quartet of Raymond Kibet, Alphas Kishoyan, Alex Sampao and Boniface Mweresa had been selected to feature in the one lap race and its relay, but will now only compete as individuals.

“Kenya is ranked 18^th in the world and the cutting mark being the 16 best teams, in the world in regard to the men 4x400m relay,” Soi had earlier clarified.

Since Kenya won gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics, no African nation has won the 4x400m relay race. They had bagged silver in Mexico four years earlier.