The University has already agreed to host Ivory Coast’s Paralympian squad for Pre Games Training Camps in the build up to London 2012 and was delighted to welcome athletes and officials from Kenya who may decide to sign a similar deal.

The four athletes were; current Olympic marathon champion and world half-marathon record holder, Sam Wanjiru, world women’s marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba, former world 5000m champion, Benjamin Limo, and Duncan Kibet - winner of the recent Rotterdam Marathon in the second fastest marathon time ever.

The two-hour visit saw the Kenyans receive a tour of the high-tech £8million sports science laboratories and the chance to use and be tested on some of the fabulous facilities including the treadmill, bod pods and cardiac ultrasound.

This was followed by a short question and answer session with selected students and staff, and then an opportunity for more informal discussions.

Professor John Brewer, the Professor of Sport at the University who organised the visit, said: “Never in the history of the University has there been four such high-calibre athletes on campus, let alone four from one particular sport.

“This was a fantastic opportunity for us to host some of the greatest runners in the world. All are very much from the ‘A list’ of world running. We were able to see them all in the laboratory but, most importantly, it was a great opportunity for our students to chat with them and learn about their training and lifestyles.

“We were all really impressed with how keen they were to interact with the students and I’m sure this will have been inspiring for our students who are about to embark on careers in sport and exercise.”

Professor Brewer conducted the tour, with testing carried out by PhD research student Jo Richards and Dr Nick Sculthorpe, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology, adding his input.

Catherine Ndereba added: “Due to the lack of facilities in Kenya, there are not so many shorter or middle distance runners or field athletes, and so many longer distance ones.

“We’ve all been humbled by the hospitality and generosity we’ve received on our visit. We got a very warm welcome and we can’t thank everyone enough. We’ve learned a lot and hope we’ve inspired people on this visit, just like people have inspired all of us and taught us new things.”