Tergat tells federations to go all out for Commonwealth

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) president Paul Tergat has asked local federations to select their strongest squads for the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

The former World marathon record holder said his office is working hard to ensure all logistical issues including travel plans and athlete kitting are sorted out well in advance of the April 4-15 showpiece.

“We are not going there for festivities but to showcase our talent to the world yet again,” Tergat, founder of the Sports Personality of the Year Awards (SOYA), said at the Michael Joseph Centre in Nairobi where the initiative received a KSh16 million boost from telecommunication giants Safaricom.

The five-time IAAF World Cross Country champion also reiterated Nock’s resolve in ensuring doping is completely wiped from Kenyan sport and implored federation chiefs to lead the fight from the front.

“Doping is killing athletics in Kenya and we cannot tolerate this as a country. We have an the Anti Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) which has been given the mandate to ensure doping is no longer a problem; we have provided them with the necessary resources so they should do a good job,” he said.

ADAK has been commended for strides made in the doping fight although Kenya is still under the surveillance of world governing body IAAF for running ‘non-compliant’ systems in the fight against banned performance-enhancing substances.