Expelled Kenyan coach denies impersonating athlete at Rio

Kenyan sprint coach expelled from the Rio Olympic Games has denied he was involved in doping impropriety, denying intentionally impersonating men's 800m athlete, Ferguson Rotich.

John Anzra, in a move to explain the circumstances that led to his expulsion upon arrival that he was a victim of "confusion" from National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) officials.

"We arrived in Rio on Aug. 6 with other technical members of the Kenyan team and taken to a three-bedroom residential house and dumped there by NOCK officials without basic amenities including food," Anzra told journalists on Friday night.

"We could not even have a meal until 3pm on Monday and we were not issued with accreditation to the games village since Kenya had exhausted their quota allocation of 36 passes," he said.

The coach was sent back home on the next flight available after he was caught wearing the accreditation badge of 800m runner, Ferguson Rotich, who was subjected to dope test after which he signed the relevant documents.

"I tried to explain to them that I was not Rotich but they took the accreditation and started walking away to the station that was about 50 meters away. I immediately instructed (fellow coach Joseph) Mosonik to go and explain to Rotich that I was being held hostage with his card," he claimed.

"At that moment I was buying time for Mosonik to come with the athlete, a team Kenya official and maybe a doctor. They put me in a room, asked for my sample and I refused to give it to them trying to explain to them I wasn't Rotich," Anzra added.

"Luckily the athlete came and proved using his passport to prove that the accreditation was his and he went in and continued with the procedure," Anzrah told reporters.

"If I had not bought time for Rotich, he would have probably been banned for refusing to take a urine test," the retired former national sprint champion underscored.

Unlike the athletics team manager, Michael Rotich, who was arrested immediately upon arrival over an un-related doping offence following his expulsion from the games, Anzra has not yet been apprehended and it is not clear what the authorities are considering to do with him.

He said they could only access the Athletes Village by use of a daily pass which did not guarantee them of breakfast or lunch.

"On Wednesday, Ferguson Rotich sympathized with me and gave me his badge to enable me have some breakfast, and as soon as I was through with the meal, three men who turned out to be doping control officers approached me that I accompany them since they had earmarked Rotich for an out-of-competition dope test," Anzra said.

The coach said he tried to reason with them that he was not Rotich, but they insisted, and "I had no choice other than to succumb to their demands."

Anzrah, who is also a retired sprinter blamed the country's Olympics governing body of subjecting him to the incident that has cast a doping shadow over the country's track and field team.

The retired 1987 IAAF World Championships and IAAF World Indoor Championships 400m runner said poor treatment of the coaching unit of the team by NOCK that arrived in Brazil without accreditation sparked off the series of events that led to his expulsion from Rio.

"The incident happened on Wednesday, it was very cold. We left the house for the (Olympics) Village and were given a day's pass that could be revoked at any moment," he explained.

"The athletes were very sympathetic with the coaches and they gave us their accreditation cards to use at the restaurant for meals," said the dejected coach who was visibly angry when addressing reporters at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

He then narrated how Nock officials led by Kenya's Head of Mission, Stephen arap Soi, turned on him when the incident was reported to authorities.

"I went back to the Village and I met my Chef-de-Mission to enquire about my accreditation then he raised the issue about what had happened earlier. I explained what the issue was and he told me that this could easily get me deported but I brushed it off," Anzra added.

The coach was quick to rubbish claims that he had given a urine sample calling for anyone who could prove it to step forward.

"I did not give my urine sample as they are alleging and I can challenge them to produce one because Rotich at the moment has four samples. Two for blood and two for urine. I however, signed a form in the process with the guise of buying time for the athlete to avail himself at the doping station," he explained. Endit