Blood, sweat and tears are three elements inscribed on and embodied by Kenyan athletes who are always determined to fly the country's flag high across all competitions.
Needless to say, to the victor goes the spoils, hence an athlete's hard work is heftily rewarded with prizes amounting to millions for their dominance in the sport.
In the case of 29-year-old Elijah Manangoi, the cheers and laughter suddenly turned to woes after he lost an opportunity to participate in all athletics events for two years due to a ban imposed by the World Athletics.
The former 1,500 meter World Champion was flagged for whereabouts failures which is a breach of World Anti-doping regulations.
Manangoi noted that he entrusted unscrupulous third party people who erred in filling the details of his whereabouts.
"From my experience during the ban, I would like to urge fellow athletes to closely observe the whereabouts rules as stipulated by World Athletics. Always ensure you filled in the whereabouts by yourself and don't entrust it with a third party," he recently spoke to the media.
Whereabouts information is vital for the World Athletics as they give the organisation the ability to locate athletes with no notice.
This is done in order to randomly test athletes who opt to use doping hence it's essential to provide accurate and up-to-date information.
The ban led to Manangoi missing out on international events such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Diamond League seasons during the period.
"Of Course, I have lost a lot of money in terms of the contract, winning bonus and appearing fees. Considering I didn't compete in the 2019 season due to a leg injury, in total I have been away for three years. I can say I lost close to Ksh60 million," he noted.
Seeking to consolidate his chances and ameliorate his living standards, Manangoi kept himself busy at his farm while also training in readiness for his comeback season.
"Ever since I became an elite athlete, I spend most of the time training and travelling, but the sanction meant I had enough time to attend to my businesses which include farming," he intimated.
Over his career, Manangoi has dominated competitions in the 1500 metre category including the 2017 World Championships held in Britain, the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Australia and the African Championships held in Nigeria later that year.
He has also set personal best records in the 800-metre Birmingham race in 2018 and the 1,500-metre category held in Monaco in 2017.
Recently, the World Athletics announced that Kenya would remain classed as a high-risk zone (Category A) for countries to watch for in terms of anti-doping violations.
This is after over 13 Kenyan athletes were already sanctioned for violating the anti-doping rules since the beginning of the year.
