Twelve athletes were training in Iten ( the capital and largest town of Elgeyo-Marakwet County), Kenya on Monday and they were arrested for training in a group against the government ban on social gatherings and sports activities.
The athletes, 10 Kenyans and two foreigners, were taken to Iten police station before local Athletics Kenya officials intervened on their behalf.
Last week, Athletics Kenya ordered all training camps in the country to be closed indefinitely and athletes instructed to maintain social distancing and train individually
The Kenya Athletics official who spoke to the media at the station confessed that the athletes we’re at fault. Coach Elkanah Ruto termed the incident as unfortunately and blamed the athletes for risking their life and member of the public.
“The athletes were arrested by security officers in collaboration with the county’s department of health. The same departments had earlier on engaged us on how we are supposed to conduct our training to ensure that we stay safe from the coronavirus,” said Ruto
