Keino to probe Kenya failure

Losing the steeplechase crown was a major blow

Kenya running legend Kip Keino is to head an investigation into the country's poor World Championships showing and help find a new head coach ahead of next year's Athens Olympics.

Mike Kosgei, one of the most successful cross country coaches the country has ever produced, has been axed.

Athletics Kenya (AK) have told the 45-year-old, who returned as head coach in 2002 after a five-year stint in Finland, he can re-apply for his job.

The move follows fresh demands for changes after Kenya's disappointing display in Paris, where their runners managed a miserly three medals.

"We selected the best team that the country has had in years, and if the people of Kenya feel we did not perform to expectations, we take all the blame," AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat said.

Shaheen nets $1m with win

Kenya lost the 3,000m steeplechase title for the first time in 12 years when Ezeliel Kemboi was beaten by Saif Saaeed Shaheen - a Kenyan athlete formerly known as Stephen Cherono who has lucratively swapped his allegiance to Qatar.

Lagat fails drug test

The country was also rocked by a drugs scandal when Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Bernard Lagat failed a test and withdrew from the Championships.

Keino, who sparked Kenya's running boom by winning Olympic gold at the 1968 Mexico City Games, called for an inquiry into drug-taking in July after Pamela Chepchumba was banned for two years for doping.

Chepchumba, the 2001 world junior cross country champion, also tested positive - like Lagat - for the banned substance erythropoietin (EPO).