Kenyan world steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi plans to bow out of the event on a high note at this year's Continental Cup before taking to the roads for an assault on the marathon.

The 27-year-old former Olympic champion will end his steeplechase career following the September 4-5 meeting in Split, Croatia after being persuaded to continue in the event for one more season.

"I contemplated switching to the marathon after winning my first world title in Berlin last year but my management team convinced me I was still strong enough to run the steeplechase for another year," Kemboi told Reuters.

Kemboi finally won the world title in Berlin last August after finishing second at the three previous championships in Paris (2003), Helsinki (2005) and Osaka (2007), but he still has a few goals remaining before swapping the track for the road.

"I will attack the world record this year and also hope to win the African title in Nairobi and be selected for the World Cup (Continental Cup)," he said.

"These are my main targets this year and I am running 35 kilometres daily as part of my preparations for both the world record and the marathon."

Kemboi admits he turned down lucrative offers to change nationality but feels Kenya must do more to prevent its athletes from switching citizenship in exchange for a better standard of living.

"I am a proud Kenyan and respect those who fought for independence, but our leaders need to motivate athletes so that they don't defect to other countries," Kemboi added.

"Other nations give top-of-the-range cars to their Olympic and world champions. Here we are only given 300,000 shillings ($3,909) for gold medals, which does not help much."