Kemboi defends Bristol City camp

Ezekiel Kemboi performs his dance after winning gold in Olympics 3000m steeplechase.

By Omulo Okoth in London

Ezekiel Kemboi has defended the decision to camp in Bristol before this Olympics, which kicked a storm among majority of Kenyan athletes who preferred training at Kenyan high altitude venues.

Making remarks during a post-race press conference, moments after reclaiming the 3,000m steeplechase on Sunday, Kemboi, 30, said the brief spell he spent in Bristol helped him reclaim the title.

"I know weather in Europe fluctuates between warm and cold and my brief training in Bristol was meant to get the feel of the conditions here. It helped me a lot because I already knew what to expect," said
Kemboi.

Spotting a clean shave on the sides and a bushy hair at the top of the head, Kemboi restricted questions to events of Sunday evening alone, meaning no reporter veered off to issues other than the 3,000m
steeplechase final and his future running career. Reporters obliged.

He has a pending court case following an incident in which a 24-year-old hotelier in Eldoret accused him of injury her.

Kemboi said his future now belongs to marathon, preferring to quit the track at the top of his career. He has won world titles twice and Commonwealth Games once.

The flamboyant showman, a policeman in Kenya, finished the race as he ran towards the seventh lane, saluting the crowd as he normally does at Nyayo National Stadium.