(What sports are involved with this?) It’s athletics and it’s a big deal in Africa: it features all the African countries and a lot of the athletes using this to prepare for the Beijing Olympics. (Are the great long distance runners competing?) Some of them aren’t, some are. The reigning Kenyan runner pulled out because he didn’t want to compromise his training for Beijing. (What other track and field events does Africa dominate in?) When you talk about sprints, you look at Nigeria and Ghana. There’s a lot of sprinting talent in West Africa, long distance is East and Middle Africa, and then South Africa is the field events. (Has doping been a factor among African runners?) Not really, there have been some cases but drugs aren’t a real issue when it comes to African athletes. I just did an interview with an athlete from Ghana and I asked about if she’s tempted by drugs, and she says she has been tempted but doesn’t want to disgrace her name and family.
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