Athlete, coach betrayal: Sold doping lies for morsel and tour

In 2019, some overzealous journalists working for the Dokumentarkompagniet, a Danish television channel reached out to retired athlete Elias Kiptum.

The reporter engaged the athlete on Kenya’s supremacy in athletics and in between the conversation, which was mostly on social media, sought a special favour.

This favour was to have Kiptum fix his elite colleagues for doping.

At the time, the likes of Vivian Cheruiyot, Amos Kipruto and Hellen Obiri were running the breath out of other elite athletes and bringing Kenya the coveted honours in track and field sports.

Dokumentarkompagniet dangled to Kiptum niceties; a written contract that the television channel would make sure to help him, his wife and children would be abroad when the documentary would air.

All he needed to do was to be a part of the toxic narrative, that he knew about doping and the running environment in Kenya. The reporter would show his face.

Danish conspirators

From Dokumentarkompagniet side, Anna Thyrri and Stine  Uldbjerg Hansen signed the contract on February 20, 2020 while Kiptum signed it a day later.

Kiptum roped in athletics coach Paul Kibet into the deal five months later.

Kibet signed an agreement with Dokumentarkompagniet on July 22, 2022. His wife Zedi Jeruto also signed an agreement. 

The TV representatives- Thyrri, Kristoff Stryhn and Uldbjerg signed the document while, Judy Jepkosgei and Elias signed as witnesses.

Kibet was required to narrate in the documentary that he knows about running environment in Kenya and inside the anti-doping agency and athletics Kenya.

He too was promised a trip abroad and all he had to do was to secretly do recordings and hand them to Dokumentarkompagnie for use in the documentary that was to run from May 2021.

Just as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, Kiptum, Dokumentarkompagniet and Kibet were ready to have the entire country on the international cross for a trip abroad and as little as Sh5,000.  

Court documents seen by The Standard indicate that the athlete and the coach sold their souls to Dokumentarkompagniet for money, with the highest amount that Kibet got from the television channel being Sh119,262.

The money from Dokumentarkompagniet was being sent through its sister company PUST IVS.

An analysis of Kiptum’s Oppo Phone model A73 indicated that he had chatted with ‘ Stine Denmark’ and had 15 letters alleged to be from Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK).

First letter

The first letter dated June 21, 2017 concerned Eunice Jepkoech, another one dated February 3, 2020 was about Gianni Demadonna.

There was also another letter allegedly addressed to Athletics Kenya dated May 23, 2019 about Hellen Obiri, a separate one to Beatrice Chepkoech dated September 5, 2019, and to Vivian Cheruiyot dated May 15, 2017.

Other letters were of Federico Rosa, Amos Kipruto, Sarah Kipchirchir, Daniel Simiu and Juan Pedro which were dated May 5, 2017, June 3, 2019, October 2, 2018, August 3, 2019 and May 3, 2019 respectively.

There was also another letter alleged to be from South African Doping Control Laboratory (SaDoCoL) dated April 5, 2017.

Then there was a video which Kibet recorded Kiptum while narrating to an unknown person that he had been traced in Kigali, Rwanda, while the caller on the other side was talking about world athletics body IAAF and a lie he told a German journalist.

Kibet claimed he was arrested because of ‘powerful people in government.’

Source protection

When Dokumentarkompagniet was contacted about Kiptum and Kibet’s contracts, they responded that it was independent and could not answer the questions.

The response was signed off by Lars Hoj who stated that they were protecting their sources.

The athlete and the coach forged documents from ADAK and SaDoCoL to support their narrative that Kenya was a doping haven.

With Cheruiyot, Kipruto and Obiri being at the heart of their deception, the country was in for a roast.

In the fake letter on Kipruto, it had been alleged that he tested positive for a prohibited hormone – Aromatase Inhibitors – and was banned from participating in marathons.

ADAK chief executive Japhter Kiplimo was the star witness in the case. He narrated that although the letters had the agency’s logo, and bore a signature alleged to be from the chief executive, the anti-doping agency only informed athletes about failed tests through a notice of charge.

The notice of charge, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) court magistrate Njeri Thuku heard, acts as a suspension letter until such a time anti-doping violation is finalised.

Kiplimo told the court that ADAK is affiliated to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and ensures that clean sports is promoted through rules and regulations.

The chief executive also denied that ADAK had an agreement with SaDoCoL. He stated that in 2017, the agency was sending its samples to Paris, France and South Africa.

He also said that the logo was wrong while some of the letters only had a name Japhter.

There were also major contradictions and mistakes in the letters including calling Simiu as Simiyu.

Kipchirchir, a marathoner, was the first athlete to testify. She told the court that she never received the alleged letter and AK never asked her about it.

She also denied knowing Kibet saying that doping claims would have ruined Kenya athletics.

Simiu on the other hand said he was a 5,000 metres race runner and represented Kenya in Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Alleged letter

He too asserted that he never received the alleged letter which erroneously referred to him as Simiyu.

Eunice Sum, an 800 metres athlete, took the stand as the third witness. She is a police officer. She too said that she did not know about Kibet and Kiptum until they were arrested and never got a letter dated June 21, 2017.

Chepkirui, Chepkoech, Cheruiyot and Kipruto also gave the same story that the letters claimed to be about them were a forgery and they never got them.

Cheruiyot said that she participated in the London Marathon in 2020 and has never tested positive for Higenamine.

ADAK’s board member Moni Wekesa sealed the prosecution’s case. He told the court that he was described in the forged letters as the chief executive. According to him, this was a ‘bad forgery.’

Wekesa denied signing or writing any of the letters.

In reply, Kiptum, said he was arrested in April 2021 in Eldoret. The 44-year-old denied that the Oppo phone was his and also claimed that there was no proof that Jedi is his wife.

He further argued that there was no evidence to show he got money from Dokumentarkompagniet or being in contact with Anna or Stein.

Kiptum also told the court that he did not interact with Kibet and did not know that he had received money from the television channel.

Kibet on the other hand said he was a coach and an athlete. He claimed there was nothing to show that he had intended to destroy Kenya’s reputation.

He, however, admitted receiving money from Dokumentarkompagniet. His narrative was that Kiptum knew Anna and Stein and that he (Kiptum) communicated with them because the journalists wanted to know their story about growing up as athletes. 

The father of two said that he cut links with the Danish television when they started investigating doping.

Kibet threw Kiptum under the bus after he said that the athlete was very well paid by the journalists.

Magistrate Njeri found that the chats, the bank statements and recordings by the two were clear that the two were out to destroy the country’s athletics.

“I find the defence presented by Elias and Paul respectively are both a sham. I dismiss their defence. It does not dislodge the weight of the Prosecution evidence presented,” she ruled.