World champion Kemboi charged with assault, may miss London Olympics

Eldoret (Kenya) - A Kenyan court charged world’s 3,000-meter champion Ezekiel Kemboi with assault after a woman said he stabbed her after leaving a drinking den here.

The charges have heightened fears that Kemboi might miss the London Olympics after Anne Njeru Otieno alleged on Thursday that the athlete attacked her when she declined his sexual advances in Eldoret town, reported Xinhua.

However, the athlete, who won the gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 before adding to it the world title in Berlin 2009 and Daegu in 2011, denied the charges and instead accused the woman of plotting with thugs to rob him of money and other valuables.

Eldoret Principal Magistrate Francis Kiambia released him on bail of $600 and a cash bail of $240 and fixed the case to be heard on Sep 31 after the athletes’ lawyers pleaded with him to fix it after the Olympic Games, which begin July 27.

The National Olympics Committee of Kenya (NOCK) said they have launched investigations on how Kemboi was sneaked out of the residential training camp in Nairobi.

“We can only come to the aid of the competitors who are with us in camp and in this case, we cannot be held accountable since he was not where he was supposed to be,” Team Kenya for London general manager James Chacha said.

Earlier, Kemboi’s accuser Otieno said they were drinking with the athlete until around midnight Wednesday, watching the semi-finals of the Euro 2012 between Spain and Portugal.

“We left and as he was dropping me home, he made sexual advances to me and I declined. He locked the vehicle and started demanding it,” she said.

Speaking from her hospital bed at Mediheal Hospital in Eldoret, Otieno said, Kemboi wanted sex but she declined, and only managed to unlock the car door and stormed out.

“But as I was hurriedly opening our gate, he ran and caught up with me. A scuffle ensued, and he threatened to kill me. He reached for a knife and stabbed me,” she added.