World Athletics Blocks Brigid Kosgei and Four Other Kenyans from Switching to Turkey

# The Door Slams Shut

<cite index="1-2,1-3">On Thursday, April 17, World Athletics rejected applications by five top Kenyan athletes—including former world record holder Brigid Kosgei and Olympic 5000m silver medalist Ronald Kwemoi—to represent Turkey in international competitions.</cite> <cite index="4-9,8-5">The others blocked were world half marathon bronze medallist Catherine Relin Amanang'ole, Brian Kibor, and Nelvin Jepkemboi.</cite>

The Nationality Review Panel's decision was unequivocal. <cite index="2-14">World Athletics concluded that the transfers were part of a coordinated recruitment effort supported by the Turkish government through a state-funded athletics club.</cite> <cite index="2-15">The governing body said such arrangements undermine fair competition, weaken investment in domestic athletes, and risk reducing trust in national representation.</cite>

<cite index="2-16">The affected athletes may still train or compete at club level in Turkey but are ineligible for major championships, including the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.</cite> For Kosgei—who set the women's marathon world record of 2:14:04 in Chicago in 2019—the ruling means she remains tied to Kenya despite her apparent desire to compete under the Turkish flag.

Why Athletes Leave

The rejection throws a spotlight on a long-standing exodus. <cite index="2-1,2-2">The issue reflects a long-standing pattern in athletics, where Kenyan athletes have changed nationality to compete for other countries, and in past cases, some athletes achieved significant success after transferring.</cite>

According to interviews with athletes who've made the switch, two factors dominate: money and opportunity. <cite index="7-3,7-15">Countries with fat cheque books and enviable incentives like free scholarships lure away athletes who struggle to even get recognition in national athletics in Kenya.</cite> <cite index="7-16">Financial motivation and the tough competition back home feature prominently</cite> in their decisions.

Akdag Alex Kipkirui, a steeplechase runner who now represents Turkey, told FairPlanet he had four siblings and parents struggling to raise school fees. When a coach at the Iten training grounds offered him a chance to relocate to Turkey, he accepted. Another athlete who switched to Bahrain said she received a scholarship—"something she would never have dreamed of in Kenya."

“"There are so many talented Kenyans, some who are way better than me. That means that to even make it to the national competitions where one at least stands a chance of winning and getting picked to represent the country in international competitions is very slim."”

<cite index="7-9,7-10,7-11">Kenya has traditionally taken pride of place in the global arena for producing world class middle and long distance running talent, and is home to training grounds that attract athletes, both elite and novice, from across the world—including the High Altitude Training Centre in Iten, a small town in Rift Valley, Western Kenya, which hosts hundreds of athletes at any one time.</cite>

The Hall of Switchers

The list of Kenyan-born athletes now wearing other nations' colours is long—and decorated. <cite index="2-3,2-4">Wilson Kipketer became a Danish citizen and won multiple world titles in the 800 metres, while Stephen Cherono, later known as Saif Saaeed Shaheen, represented Qatar and set a world record in the steeplechase.</cite> <cite index="2-5">Bahrain has recruited Kenyan athletes, including Ruth Jebet, who won Olympic gold in 2016, and Winfred Mutile Yavi, who has claimed world and Olympic titles.</cite> <cite index="2-6">Norah Jeruto secured a world championship title for Kazakhstan in 2022, while Bernard Lagat went on to win world titles for the United States after his transfer.</cite>

<cite index="9-10">Stephen Cherono was reportedly offered a monthly stipend of KSh 112,300 for life just to become a Qatari athlete in 2003.</cite> He changed his name to Saif Saeed Shaheen and broke the 3,000m steeplechase world record in 2004.

<cite index="8-14">In August 2024, World Athletics announced that Bahrain would not be able to recruit athletes from other countries until 2027, a decision that came in the wake of Kenyan-born Winfred Yavi snatching gold in the 3000m steeplechase for Bahrain at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.</cite>

The Crackdown

The Turkish recruitment push appears to have crossed a line. <cite index="8-6">World Athletics' decision also impacts non-Kenyan athletes who had applied to represent Turkey, including Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, Jaydon Hibbert, Wayne Pinnock, and Rojé Stona, Nigeria's Favour Ofili, and Russia's Sophia Yakushina.</cite>

<cite index="2-7,2-8">World Athletics has tightened its rules in recent years to limit nationality changes, arguing that stronger regulation is needed to protect the development of domestic talent and maintain the integrity of international competition.</cite> The statement released Thursday cited "core principles of the regulations" and emphasized that national teams should not be "primarily assembled through external recruitment."

For Kenya, the stakes are high. <cite index="8-18">The country is seeking to prevent the haemorrhage of athletics talent to other countries, with competitors claiming gold for foreign nations</cite> at the expense of Kenyan pride.

What Comes Next

Kosgei and her fellow applicants now face a choice: continue training in Turkey without the right to represent the nation at World Championships or the Olympics, or return to the fierce Kenyan selection system where making the national team can mean outrunning dozens of world-class athletes in a single trial.

<cite index="10-6,10-7">World Athletics noted that the athletes are free to compete in one-day events or train in Turkey, and that "this does not prevent the athletes from competing in one-day meetings or road races in a personal or club capacity, or from living and training in Türkiye."</cite>

The ruling sets a clear precedent: the era of state-backed talent shopping may be ending. But the underlying tension—between a Kenyan system so competitive it pushes champions away and foreign governments willing to pay handsomely for medals—remains unresolved.

Athletics Kenya has not yet issued a public statement on the ruling. The athletes affected have also not publicly commented since the decision was announced.

Reporting drawn from Daily Nation, Mwakilishi, Capital FM Kenya, Vantage Ke, FairPlanet, AllAfrica.