Kenyan Athletes Koki Manunga, Joyce Zakary Fail Drug Test at World Championships

Kenyan runners Koki Manunga and Joyce Zakary have been provisionally banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations after testing positive for banned substances at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, according to Sky Sports.

As the Guardian's Owen Gibson reported, a spokesperson for the IAAF gave a short statement, saying:

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The IAAF rules dictate that the IAAF is only able to make a public disclosure once this provisional suspension is in place. These targeted tests were conducted by the IAAF at the athlete hotels during the pre-competition phase. The IAAF will not discuss the details of the cases as they progress through the results management process.

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The pair competed during the first days of the World Championships. Zakary, a 400-metre runner, set a new national record of 50.71 seconds in her first heat, but she did not run in the semi-finals. Manunga failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the 400-metre hurdles.

The Press Association's Simon Peach wonders whether these bans will be the first of many:

As the Press Association reported (for the Daily Mail), the World Championships have been hit by doping allegations from the Sunday Times and German television station ARD, which claim they have access to a huge amount of suspicious blood tests of 5,000 athletes.

According to those reports, 18 of Kenya's medals were won by "athletes under suspicion" dating back more than a decade. The nation led the medal standings at the World Championships after four days of competition.

ARD (via Reuters) took it one step further, reporting several Kenyan athletes received advanced warning of unannounced doping tests. Ronald Kipchumba, a banned runner, claimed athletics officials would demand money to hide positive tests.

Paul Gilham/Getty Images

The World Anti-Doping Agency is currently investigating the claims, and with the eyes of the world on Beijing for the World Championships, the IAAF can't afford any more scandals and will leave nothing to chance.

Following the news of the suspensions, pundits turned their attention to the athletes competing on Wednesday. With Julius Yego emerging as the ultimate Cinderella story in the javelin event, winning gold with the best recorded throw in the last 14 years, pundits will continue to watch the Kenyan athletes with a close eye.

It would be a tremendous shame if the extraordinary performances of some were overshadowed by the mistakes of others, and fans of the sport can only hope this is the last we'll hear from banned substances at this year's World Championships.

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