As the world focuses on Russia and its doping scandal, running great Kip Keino is preparing for the spotlight to turn to Kenya.
Keino, a two-time Olympic champion, is now the head of the Kenyan Olympic committee.
He is worried that his country could be facing a blanket ban from competition if it doesn't clean up its act.
"Things are still very bad," Keino said of the country's anti-doping efforts. "We must take action now or we shall not be welcome in international games."
Kenya topped the medals table at this year's world championships ahead of Jamaica and the United States.
But the East African nation, still also dominant in marathons, does not have an effective anti-doping program three years after German broadcaster ARD revealed banned substances were easily available and few doping tests were carried out.
Two Kenyans also failed targeted doping tests at the world championships in Beijing in August, the latest of nearly 40 Kenyans to have tested positive for banned substances since 2012.
Keino recently returned from a meeting with the World Anti-Doping Agency and warned that his country - like the threat against Russia - could be thrown out of competitions because of doping among its world-class runners.
WADA spokesman Ben Nichols said in an email statement to The Associated Press that reports of a ban were "not accurate," but that "there is still a lot of work required to bring their anti-doping program up to par."
Specifically, WADA has concerns with delays from the Kenyan government in providing funding for a new national anti-doping body, which is still not functioning.
WADA has been calling for an effective anti-doping agency in Kenya since late 2012. A doping laboratory supposed to be operational by now in Nairobi has not opened.
Officials from the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, which doesn't yet have offices, didn't respond to requests for comment. Its head is a former government official.
There are also allegations that track officials have ignored the doping problem, or worse are complicit in concealing it, aware that track and field is the country's leading source of national pride and a big generator of money.
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