Saif Saaeed Shaheen

Stephen Cheruiyot Cherono was born and raised in Kenya, showing athletic ability from a young age. He initially made his mark on the international stage with a win at the 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics over the 2000 metre steeplechase. After the death of his coach and manager Kim McDonald in 2001, he started training under Italian coach Renato Canova, who was already the coach of his elder brother Christopher Kosgei. Christopher was the 3000 metre SC World Champion in 1999. The first success of this collaboration was breaking the World Junior Record in Brussels in 2001. As of May, 2017 his time of 7:58.66 was still the WJR. He then went on to win the 3000 metre SC in both the 2003 and 2005.

He then decided to try the 5000 metres. At the 2003 Golden Spike, in Ostrava, Czech Republic, he ran 12:48.81. He won the race and defeated previous World Champion Hicham El Guerrouj by nearly a second and a half. At the time, it was the 7th fastest time ever run and he is still one of only 19 men who have ever run under 12:50 for 5000 metres.

Cherono moved from Kenya to Qatar in 2003, along with fellow Kenyan Albert Chepkurui. Changing his name from Stephen Cherono to Saif Saaeed Shaheen, he was reported to have received up to US$1 million to become a Qatari citizen,[6] although he denied this. Some reports stated that he had been given US$1,000 every month for the rest of his life for his change of nationality. After about 40 athletes had left the country, President Mwai Kibaki made a speech before the 2005 World Championships in which he said "Let us resist the temptation to change our citizenship for financial gains."[7]

Shaheen began his international career for Qatar by winning two medals at the 2003 Asian Athletics Championships, taking silvers over 1500 m and 5000 m. When he won the steeplechase at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics in Paris, his brother, who was also in the race, walked off the track and did not congratulate him due to his defection to Qatar.

Shaheen was barred from competing in the 2004 Olympic Games due to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) rule that athletes may not compete in international events for three years after competing in an international event for a different country. This rule may be waived if the athlete and the governing athletics bodies from the two countries involved agree that it should be; Athletics Kenya did not agree.[8] Kenyan runner Ezekiel Kemboi won the Olympic steeplechase race that year.

Shaheen's move is a prominent example of increasing globalization in athletics, as countries such as Qatar and Bahrain, also a Persian Gulf State, have persuaded high-profile African athletes to change nationalities. This marked a change of motivation in athlete transfers, in contrast, for example, to the politically motivated change of Zola Budd, or the marriage and emigration issues that led Wilson Kipketer to compete for Denmark.[9] IOC President Jacques Rogge has also raised concerns about athletes moving between countries, stating that, "What is bad is countries or organizations wanting to buy athletes just for the money."[10]

Sympathy has been expressed for Shaheen's move, with the former 3,000 metre steeplechase world record holder, Kenyan Moses Kiptanui, stating "We have seen a lot of athletes who were running in the 1968 Olympics or 1974 until maybe last year, some of them, they are living in a very, very sparse state. They are very poor despite the fact they have done great things for this country".[7]

He was eighth in the long race and fourth in the short race at the 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, leading Qatar to the team bronze on both occasions. On the track later that year he became the steeplechase world champion with a win at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics, defeating his Kenyan rivals Kemboi and Kipruto. He began the following year by running an Asian indoor record to win the 3000 metres gold medal at the 2006 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships. Moving on to the global stage, he ran in the event at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and took the silver medal, losing to Kenenisa Bekele by two seconds. This was his first global indoor medal but he was not happy with his race tactics: "That was not very intelligent of me. I knew exactly when Kenenisa would start his kick and I planned to be close to him at that time. But I wasn't."[11]

In the outdoor season he took two wins on the 2006 IAAF Golden League, taking the steeplechase races at the Weltklasse Zurich and Memorial van Damme meetings. He was selected to represent Asia at the 2006 IAAF World Cup and completed a double by taking the 5000 m title and then setting a championship record to win in his steeplechase speciality. Shaheen was the first runner to medal in both events at the same competition, let alone win the double.[12]

His successful season came at a price as, after ignoring doctor's orders, the tendinitis in his patella worsened and an Achilles tendon injury doubled his health difficulties. As a result, he missed a number of major competitions, including the 2006 Asian Games, the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He began finding it difficult to walk for long periods and underwent treatment with renowned sports injury specialist Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt. A possible comeback in 2008 turned out to be a write-off as he pulled up in pain in circuit races in Athens and Eugene, Oregon.[13]

He came back into competition in early 2009. He won the Cinque Mulini race and set his sights upon the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships.[13] Although not at his best, his thirteenth-place finish at the competition to head the Qatari team to fifth in the rankings marked his return to the top level.[14] When he returned to the track he set a personal best in the 3000 metres at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix, running 7:32.46 for fourth place.[15] At the 2009 World Championships in Athletics, however, he was far from the form which brought him a world record. He finished eleventh in his 5000 m heat and was eliminated in the first round.[16]

He competed in his first elite road race in 2010, running at the Belgrade Race Through History. He finished the difficult 6 km course in 16:57, which was enough for fourth place behind Stephen Tum.[17] A runner-up finish followed at the Great South Run 10-miler followed two weeks later, where he was second only to Joseph Ebuya who recorded the fastest ever time in the United Kingdom.[18]

He did not compete at top level after 2010 and Shaheen announced his formal retirement from international competition in February 2016, citing a long-term achilles tendon injury. Shaheen returned to live in Eldoret, Kenya to run a family business.[19]

• Kenyan Athletics Championships
  • 3000 m steeplechase: 2002

2000 m steeplechase

• Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix: 2005

3000 m steeplechase

• Notturna di Milano: 2002
• Tsiklitiria: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Weltklasse Zürich: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Meeting Gaz de France: 2003
• DN Galan: 2003
• Memorial Van Damme: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Golden Spike Ostrava: 2004
• Golden Gala: 2005

3000 m

• BW-Bank Meeting: 2010

5000 m

• Golden Spike Ostrava: 2003

Cross country

• Cinque Mulini: 2005, 2009

• 1500 metres – 3:33.51 (2006)
• 2000 metres – 5:03.06 (2001)
• 3000 metres – 7:32.46 (2009)
• Two miles – 8:18.80 (1999)
• 5000 metres – 12:48.81 (2003) NR
• 2000 metres steeplechase – 5:14.53 (2005) AR NR
• 3000 metres steeplechase – 7:53.63 (2004) WR WU23B AR NR
• 10 miles – 46:37 (2010)

Shaheen also holds the world under-20 record for the steeplechase at 7:58.66 minutes, set in 2001

• List of eligibility transfers in athletics
• List of World Championships in Athletics medalists (men)
• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics (men)
• Kenya at the World Championships in Athletics
• List of Qatar-related topics

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saif Saaeed Shaheen.

• Legal Affairs article 2004