Kenya’s two-time Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi walked out of court a free man on Tuesday after assault charges were dropped by his accuser, his lawyer said.
Kemboi, 30, had been accused of assaulting and causing bodily harm to a woman, Anne Njeri, following drinks together late in June in his hometown of Eldoret, some 300 kilometres (200 miles) west of the Kenyan capital.
However, Njeri dropped all charges on Tuesday, as the case was due to be heard before court. “The girl said she had made a personal decision to drop the charges,” said Kemboi’s lawyer Michael Chemwok. “She had experienced a lot of suffering to herself and her family, who had felt ostracised from the community after bringing up the case against their track hero.” Kemboi, who is also a police officer, might now seek legal action against the woman as he had suffered legal and financial repercussions arising from the case, Chemwok said, repeating allegations she had been part of a kidnap ring. “We knew that the lady had no case to prove, because she was part of a wider conspiracy to kidnap Kemboi before the Olympics and demand a ransom for his release,” Chemwok claimed. The athlete, who denied all the charges, was bailed in time to participate in the London Olympics, where he won the 3,000m steeplechase gold medal, becoming the first Kenyan to take two Olympic titles in the event, which he also won at the 2004 Games. He is also a two-time world champion.