It is not the first time this year Kenya’s runners have been at the centre of a doping scandal. On the day after David Rudisha’s world record victory in the 800m final at the London Olympics, distance runner Mathew Kisorio failed a drugs test after testing positive at the Kenyan Athletics Championships.

Kisorio confessed and levelled a wide range of accusations saying doping was rife in Kenya with doctors corrupting athletes. “They open a pharmacy and claim they’re selling legal medication” he said. “Then they approach the athletes. It’s the same all over the country. Athletics Kenya knows now what the situation is. Maybe this is an ongoing problem that finally surfaces.”

Kiplagat insisted that from next year more advanced testing would be in use in Kenya as they look to crack down on a problem which threatens to tarnish the country’s great running tradition. From 2013 it will be mandatory for directors of domestic racing events to have doping equipment on site.

Top-class runners from around the world, including Britons Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, have used the Rift Valley as a training camp and Kenyan officials will be desperate to protect the sport’s reputation for fear of high-profile athletes being put off using the country as a base.