Athletes' support for anti-doping fight 'gratifying', say testing body

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), the independent body responsible for combating doping in track and field, stated on Thursday that it was "gratifying" that athletes appreciated its work.

AIU chair David Howman's reaction follows praise showered on the AIU by French athlete Jimmy Gressier after he stunned his African rivals to take the 10 000 metres title at the world championships on Sunday.

Gressier produced a stunning sprint finish to pip Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia to the line in Tokyo, with another European, Andreas Almgren of Sweden, taking the bronze medal.

The Frenchman was the first European winner over the distance since Somalia-born Briton Mo Farah in 2017 – Farah also won in 2013 and 2015.

"Today, I beat East Africa. Let's not kid ourselves, you know I'm not picky, the AIU is doing a huge job and it helps to level the playing field a bit more," Gressier said after the race.

The AIU has suspended and handed bans to a number of Kenyan runners in the last two years and this month the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) charged the east African running powerhouse with non-compliance, meaning their anti-doping practices are inefficient.

There is no suggestion that Kejelcha has ever been involved in doping.

"As to the comments from the French athlete, that's really gratifying to hear that athletes are appreciating what we're doing," said AIU chair Howman when asked about Gressier.

"We of course have meetings regularly with the World Athletics Athletes Commission. I talked this morning to (head) Valerie Adams. They’re very, very happy with the way it’s going.

"They do want more aggressive sanctioning and they do want more aggressive approaches from all sports in relation to those who are intentionally cheating.

"They feel that it could be a six-year ban for that and they feel that there could be extra sanctions in relation to whereabouts fails and so on," said Howman, who for 13 years until June 2016 was director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).

Brett Clothier, head of the AIU, added: "In terms of Jimmy Gressier, we're pleased athletes are feeling there's more of a level playing field.

"It's fundamentally what we’re trying to achieve at its heart," he said. "So for athletes to recognise that, it's fantastic."