Ezekiel Kemboi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Men’s athletics
Olympic medal record
Gold	2004 Athens	3000 m steeplechase

Ezekiel Kemboi Cheboi (born May 25, 1982) is a Kenyan athlete, winner of 3000 m steeplechase at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Born in Matira, near Kapsowar, Marakwet District, Ezekiel Kemboi didn't take up athletics until after he left school and won the African Junior Championships in 2001 in spite of falling.

In 2002, Kemboi finished second at the Commonwealth Games behind compatriot Stephen Cherono. The same year Kemboi was originally fourth at the African Championships in Athletics, but was later awarded bronze after the winner Moroccan Brahim Boulami received a doping suspension.

At the 2003 World Championships, Kemboi had a cruelling battle with former teammate Saif Saeed Shaheen (formerly Stephen Cherono) who represented his new country Qatar, before Shaheen pulled away from the exhausted Kemboi to win by less than a second. Kemboi won gold medal at the 2003 All-Africa Games.

In absence of Shaheen – The Kenyan Olympic Committee refused to waive the three-year eligibility delay for established athletes who switch nationalities – Kemboi rose to a main favourite status at the Athens Olympics. The race went very much according to form, with the three Kenyans Kemboi, Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech pushing the pace from the second lap and soon leaving the rest of the field behind and Kemboi winning a gold medal 0.3 seconds ahead of Kipruto.

In August 2005 he won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, and in March 2006 he won the 2006 Commonwealth Games.