Saif Saaeed Shaheen

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".

Saif Saaeed Shaheen (سيف سعيد شاهين), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a steeplechase runner.

He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar.

He was, for 19 years, the world record holder for 3000 metre steeplechase.

He is a two time World Champion in the event.

His older brother Abraham Cherono is also a steeplechase runner.

He was the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world junior record two years later.

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.

He won the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games for Kenya but switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003.

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, 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.

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.

That year he became world champion in the event, although a dispute with the Kenyan Athletics Federation meant he was ineligible to compete at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

He set a world record of 7:53.63 minutes in Brussels just ten days after the Olympic final, and later defeated that year's Olympic champion, Ezekiel Kemboi, at the 2004 World Athletics Final in Monaco.

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

In the 2006 season he took the 3000 metres silver medal at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and also set a number of Asian records.

He completed a 5000 m/steeplechase double at the 2006 IAAF World Cup.

Serious injuries ruled him out from late 2006 to 2008.

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.

He returned in 2009 and 2010 but failed to reach the same level of performance and retired from the sport.

Stephen Cheruiyot Cherono was born and raised in Kenya, showing athletic ability from a young age.

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.