Former and current athletes from northwest Kenya denied having sponsored the recent political violence in the region.
They have asked the Kenyan government for protection from people claiming they sponsored violence.
Retired, current and budding runners on Friday gathered at Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret to protest at victimization, the Saturday Standard newspaper reported.
The athletes said they had received emails threatening top runners from the region.
"These stories are worrying and it is very sad that athletes are not being allowed to train when we have the World Cross Country championship and the Olympic games coming," said Kipchoge Keino, chairman of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya.
He said he was shocked to read about the allegations in a Nairobi tabloid when he arrived from Russia, on Friday.
"This is calculated to damage the image of Kenyan athletes internationally and it is going to affect young athletes," he said.
It was reported that athletes were involved in violence. The story was attributed to the International Crisis Group.
The ICG report alleged that the athletes with military background were training and commanding the raiders. It also said that they were preparing to take over the property of the displaced.
"We leaders of sports are worried about how our athletes are going to perform in the coming races, " said Keino.
Athletes from the U.S., South America, Bosnia, Switzerland and Sri Lanka who had been training at the Kipchoge Keino camp left the country due to violence.
The athletes asked the government to protect athletes from intimidation.
"We want those who wrote that story to provide the evidence that athletes were funding these activities because we are all peaceful people," said Keino.
He said if there was evidence linking any of the athletes to the violence, then the law should take its course.
Source: Xinhua
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