Woman accuses top athlete of stabbing her after night out

World steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi (left) when he appeared in an Eldoret court June 28, 2012. He denied assault charges and was released on a Sh20,000 cash bail. JARED YATAYA.

World 3,000 metres steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi was on Thursday charged with assaulting a woman and causing her actual bodily harm after an evening out.

Kemboi denied assaulting Ms Ann Njeri in Eldoret on Wednesday night and was released on cash bail of Sh20,000 or Sh50,000 bond by Eldoret principal magistrate Francis Kyambia.

The case was listed for September 25 after the track star asked the court to defer the hearing to allow him to compete in the London Olympic Games which start on July 27.

The 2004 Olympic champion has a fanatical international following and is renowned for the victory jig he first performed after winning the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany (2009) and Daegu, South Korea (2011).

On Thursday, hundreds of people flocked the Eldoret Police Station to see the star when he turned up to record a statement.

Kemboi remained inside the station for almost six hours. The crowd was disappointed when police officers and a group of top athletes, some of them also headed to London, formed a human shield around him to block journalists from taking his pictures.

Among them were Olympic 800m silver medallist Janet Jepkosgei, former world 5,000m champion Benjamin Limo, half marathon runner Sammy Kitwara and Kimutai Kosgei.

Perform victory jig

Kemboi finished second in the 3,000 metres steeplechase race at the national athletics trials last Saturday at Nyayo National Stadium. He promised to return home with a gold medal, and to perform another victory jig.

Ms Njeri, who is admitted to Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret, said she had known the athlete for barely two weeks. The pair met at Signature Club to watch the European Cup semi-final match between Spain and Portugal with friends on Wednesday.

Ms Njeri, 26, claims that when the match ended, she left the bar and the athlete offered to drop her home in West Indies estate.

There were conflicting reports on the events leading to the stabbing, with the woman saying the athlete attacked her after she spurned his advances.

However, the athlete told the police they were attacked by a gang that had trailed them from town and the woman was injured when he dodged a dagger aimed at him.

Kemboi’s wallet with a photocopy of his identity card, a passport photo of him in police uniform, foreign currency and a Sh1,000 note was found at the scene of attack.