By Kimathi Kamau
NAIROBI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Athletics Kenya (AK) on Thursday urged some of the country's top runners adversely mentioned in documents released by hacking group Fancy Bears to continue training for the London 2017 IAAF World Championships as they seek answers.
The country was plunged into a fresh doping crisis when leaked emails from the world governing body the IAAF claimed a number of the country's most famous athletes had 'suspicious' blood passports or were 'likely doping'.
Besides Kenya, the hackers released a fresh trove of documents claiming famous names from Britain, United States, Ukraine and Netherlands also raised suspicions in the on-going IAAF crackdown on doping.
"We are aware of the hacked documents and some names of Kenyan and athletes from other countries they contain.
"We contacted the IAAF to here what this is all about and we will wait for their response," AK President, Jack Tuwei said in a statement on Thursday evening.
"We encourage all our athletes selected for the London 2017 World Championships to continue training to make their nation proud and not to be distracted by the reports," he added.
The development casts fresh doubts over the Kenya's athletes who topped the overall charts at the last edition of the IAAF Worlds in Beijing two years ago before winning six gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics last year.
Kenya is one of the six nations still in the IAAF doping watch-list and earlier this week, the federation urged strict 'whereabouts' regulations in a bid to send a clean squad to London.
Last year, the country flirted with an international ban from the sport over the doping menace that has seen over 40 Kenyan runners banned from the sport for substance abuse since 2012.
