Statistically speaking, 2003 was perhaps the finest season ever in the men's 5000 metres. 13 men dipped under 13 minutes 24 times, bettering the previous best, when 12 turned the trick 17 times in 2000. And leading the charge was Kenyan Abraham Chebii, who became only the third athlete to crack the still-formidable 13-minute barrier four times in a single season.

The 23 year-old from Eldoret joined the sub-13 club in 2002, but it wasn' t until he unleashed his blistering kick on the Golden League circuit this past season - a finishing ability that some are already calling "legendary"- that he finally became noticed.

He began the season with a trio of easy wins in May, a 13:21.45 in Osaka, a 7:45.21 in the Adidas Grand Prix 3000 in Portland, and a 13:08.10 in Eugene's Prefontaine Classic. In the latter, he introduced his vicious kick to the athletics world, jetting the final lap in 51.9.

"I didn't want to run faster today, because I don't want to get too run down," he said in Eugene. "The win gives me some morale, because I know very well that when I go back home I'll be in good position to make the World Championships team."

In his next race he did run much faster, clocking 12:52.99 in Oslo, while knocking 5.99 seconds from his personal best.  Mistiming his final surge, he finished fourth in a tight finish behind Kenenisa Bekele, Eliud Kipchoge and Sammy Kipketer, just 73/100s of a second behind the winner.

Paris stunner

At early July's Gaz de France meeting in Paris, Chebii timed his finish perfectly, unleashing a ferocious kick that blasted him past Haile Gebrselassie en route to a 12:53.37 meet record win, nearly a second ahead of the Ethiopian. While the scorching finish left the crowd of 50,500 stunned, the Kenyan was visibly pleased with his progress, and with his preview of the World Championship track.

"I'm happy because it was an opportunity to beat a big man," he said after the race. While respecting Gebrselassie's achievements, he no longer considered him a major force in the 5000, and knew there was more work to be done before he could be considered the man to beat. "No, I'm not surprised with the win. Gebreselassie has been (around) for a long time, but he has gone to the marathon. Once a man goes to the marathon, competing on the track is much different."

Defeat of Bekele and Geb

He picked up where he left off the next weekend at the third Golden League meeting of the summer in Rome, again defeating Gebrselassie, but this time taking down the younger Bekele as well. The two-time double World cross country champion appeared to be on his way to victory as he entered the homestretch, but Chebii followed furiously, and caught the Ethiopian in the final 25 metres to win by 2/10s of a second in 12:57.14. In Rome, he sharpened not only his speed and finishing execution, but his race smarts as well.

"I feel really good, man," he said after the race, after apparently out-smarting Gebrselassie's attempt at giving Bekele the win. "I know that he wanted Kenenisa to win the race. When we were approaching the last 150 meters," Chebii recounted, "he tried to go outside for Kenenisa to go through on the [inside lane]. The plan I think he had was that maybe when Kenenisa [went] through on the inside lane, then he would try to close again so that I would use the longer route. But I penetrated through with Kenenisa and we sprinted together."

While Gebrselassie didn't precisely spell out his late race strategy, he did confirm Chebii's appraisal.

"The last 200 metres I could not do anything," Gebrselassie conceded. "Yes, I wanted him to win. We are friends and I am happy when he wins."

The strategy almost worked, as the Kenyan appeared to be labouring as he entered the homestretch. "I thought I was going to die in the last 50 metres," he said. "But I [told] myself, 'If these guys can manage, then why not me?' "

Kenyan Trials

With two fast and decisive wins, Chebii was suddenly thrust into the favourite's role for gold in Paris. After an easy win over 3000 metres in Gateshead, Chebii returned to Kenya for the World Championship trials, a race he considered as his biggest battle of the season.

"My most difficult race is coming up next," he said after his Gateshead victory. "There might be someone new coming to surprise us. There are so many good runners at the moment." 

But he was also fully cognizant of the fact that at the trials, he would be a marked man. "In Kenya, everybody is keeping their eye on me at the moment." He said he didn't really know what kind of race to expect at the trials, but was prepared for any one of a number of scenarios. "I think I'm actually prepared this time because my training from March has been very good. Normally I have a very strong  kick," he understated. "But it's difficult to predict. Sometimes in the championships it is fast, sometimes it is slow. The last one was fast, but I feel that I can hang with that kind of pace."

Calf injury derails Paris ambitions

In Nairobi, the pace wasn't blistering, but again his kick was, and he won easily in 13:24.8. But disaster struck when he sustained a calf injury just prior to the trials, which derailed his pre-Paris preparation. He lost nearly two weeks of training, and when he reemerged in Zurich for mid-August 's Weltklasse, he was clearly not the same runner. He made a brief move on the lead pack with 250 metres to go, but was gapped by some eight metres heading into the final turn, and didn't even try to switch gears.

"I felt a little pain early on, so I decided to stay in the back to see how it feels," he said, deciding to save himself for his next race.  "I thought that maybe I would pull something." Concerns about his Paris prospects were visible, but he remained vocally upbeat.  "I'm happy because my race isn't until near the end of the month, which gives me some more time to train."

But he ran out of time, and learned quickly that this late-July lay-off left him too far behind. After a relatively easy 13:32.46 in the Paris semi-final, he said his injury was fully healed, but said that the final would certainly live up to it's billing as an all-out brawl. "This time the final is going to be a very tough one," he said, holding back some of the reserved confidence he earned after his performances in Paris and Rome.

The final was indeed "a tough one," with Kenyan teenager Eliud Kipchoge out-sprinting Hicham El Guerrouj and Bekele en route to a narrow 12:52.79 win, edging the Moroccan by a scant 4/100s of a second. Chebii couldn't summon his kick, and crossed the line fifth in 12:57.74. Despite his disappointment, Chebii added another sub-13 to his seasonal resume, joining Salah Hissou and Benjamin Limo who managed the feat in 2000.

Focussed on Athens

He finished his season with a pair of 3000s, finishing a distant seventh in Brussels (7:43.85) and third in the World Athletics Final in Monaco in 7:39.28, but his mind was already in Athens.

"The injury slowed me down before Paris," he said in Monaco.  "I will just try to avoid injury and hope next year can be different."