Olympic champion charged with stabbing

Police have charged the steeplechase world champion and Olympic gold medallist Ezekiel Kemboi with assault after a woman he drove home was stabbed in the chest.

Mr Kemboi denied the accusation when he appeared before a magistrate in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret.

He won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics in the steeplechase. He also placed first at the World Athletics Championships in South Korea last year and is due to compete at the London Games.

The wounded woman, Ann Njeri Otieno, claimed that Mr Kemboi stabbed her after she rebuffed his sexual advances after a night out at a bar. Ms Otieno said Mr Kemboi drove her to her home, but would not let her get out of the car.

The pair began scuffling and during the fight the athlete stabbed her, she told the court.

Mr Kemboi, who was released on bail, denied the account, claiming the woman and two other men colluded to rob him, and that the attackers stabbed Ms Otieno during the attempted robbery.

A case hearing has been set for 25 September.

AP