by Larry EderJustin Lagat did the following interview with Asbel Kiprop in late November at the Tuskys cross country event. In the interview, he noted that he will most likely not run indoors, counting out World Indoors. He may consider a cross country race or two, and then open around Doha. His comments on Rosa and Associati and exit of Claudio Berardelli and some of his athletes.
Asbel Kiprop speaks well about this complicated manner, during a time of much drama in athletics in Kenya and around the world.
Asbel Kiprop, with a training partner, at the Tuskys Cross Country event, photo by Kenyanathlete.com
Asbel Kiprop speaks out on Dr. Rosa and Associati management and the exit of Claudio Berardelli, by Justin Lagat
“Some people make this sound like it is actually a big move; like a migration of athletes from Dr. Rosa and Associati to Gianni Demadonna Management,” Kiprop said.
He was speaking regarding a plan by some athletes to exit the management with their coach, Claudio Berardelli, who was suspended by Dr. Rosa following incidences where athletes he coached in the management got implicated in doping. The athletes plan to join the Gianni Demadonna management, where their coach has found a new contract.
“Claudio used to coach only a small number of athletes in the management, and not the entire athletes. There are other coaches too. For example, coach David Leting works with me and a number of other athletes in the management,” said Kiprop.
Kiprop, although not wanting to victimize anyone, believes that his management did what was only proper for them to do under the circumstances, by asking Claudio to stop working with them until the circumstances surrounding the doping issues touching on the athletes he personally coached are cleared.
“When you consider that all the other coaches in the management have never had an incident of doping cases, it was only proper for Dr. Rosa to suspend Claudio for some time as investigations into what could have actually been going on started.”
“We do not say that Claudio is involved in the problem, and we know he has nothing to do with it, but he was not able to pay enough attention to his own athletes,” Rosa has been quoted saying regarding the decision to terminate Claudio’s contract with them.
Kiprop also understands that there could be many reasons as to why some of the athletes in the management would want to move out with the coach. “Friendships and personal relationships develop between athletes and coaches and perhaps the athletes moving out are doing it out of this. Janeth Jepkosgei, Eunice Sum and Agatha Jeruto are among the athletes I have heard about their intention to move out. I think that it is actually something personal because other athletes who were also being coached by Claudio, like the New York City marathon champion, Stanley Biwott, are not moving out of the management. Many others have also told me that they are staying with the management,” Kiprop said, and urged me to try and contact as many athletes as possible in the management to hear their views since he did not want to speak on behalf of anyone else. “You may find out that this could just be one athlete trying to rally others behind him or her, in an act of solidarity with the coach and has nothing to do with any problem with the management.”
As though to confirm what Kiprop was asserting, two days before meeting him, I happened to meet another athlete from Rosa and Associates; Paul Lonyangatta, the Shanghai marathon champion. I was not out to seek any story out of him but the story just came up as we kept discussing the region where he hails from in West Pokot, and how almost every successful athlete there had been lucky to have trained at Dr. Rosa’s training camps there that include Kapsait Nike Athletics Training Camp and the Kaptabuk camp, and how athletics has changed the lives of many individuals there, thanks to Dr. Rosa and Associati management.
Then, the conversation automatically touched on the new camp in Kaptagat and their training there and that is when he told me he is, and has always been, comfortable with the management and everything, to him, will go on as usual with the exit of coach Claudio.
One big question that Asbel Kiprop has, and probably everyone else who is following the developments at Dr. Rosa’s camp asks, is why some athletes would follow a coach into a different management yet a management and a coach are two different entities. “If it is because they liked the services of the coach, why not just employ him independently and remain in the management?” Kiprop wondered. Another question that arises is why the athletes waited until Claudio was suspended in order to move out with him, and did not move out earlier if they had problems with the management.
That aside, Asbel Kiprop also talked briefly about the plans he has for next year. “I don’t plan to run in any indoor competitions early next year. The only race I plan to do in January is the Nike Discovery Cross Country race in Eldoret. My first major race next year will most likely be the IAAF Doha Diamond League,” said Kiprop.
