born Saif Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar had the 10,000 spectators in the Louis II stadium to their feet as he came within just over three seconds off his own World record in the 3000m Steeplechase.
Unable to compete at the Athens Olympic Games as he is still waiting for the NOC’s approval of his transfer of allegiance, Shaheen made a point of breaking the World record at the Brussels Golden League meeting two weeks ago to prove that although he is not Olympic champion he is the fastest steeplechaser of all time.
Again Shaheen came to Monaco with the solid ambition to better his 7:53.63 of Brussels and just like it was the case in Belgium, it was European co-record holder Simon Vroemen of the Netherlands who set the pace for him.
Vroemen took Shaheen through the first kilometre in 2:38.81 – two seconds off the World record split time of 2:36.13. They were still on course when Vroemen dropped back and left Shaheen in the hands of Spain’s Luis Miguel Martin.
With five laps to go Shaheen decided it was time to take over and sped past the Spaniard with the speed of a 400 metres runner. He ran the next couple of laps so hard that when he went through the second kilometre he was now an incredible four seconds ahead of schedule. (5:14.53 at 2km against 5:18.09 in Brussels).
With 500 metres to go Shaheen waved at the crowd in a gesture which was meant to liven the crowd up and with the Monegasque public responding, Shaheen ran the last lap under a constant loud applause.
At the bell Shaheen was timed in 6:51.92 and needed a sub-62 seconds last lap to improve on his World record. But Shaheen had given too much between the first and second kilometre.
He eventually clocked 7:56.94, the second fastest time in the world this year and the fifth all-time best.
While Shaheen was sending kisses at the delighted crowd, Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi and Olympic bronze medallist Paul Kipsiele Koech were battling it out for second. Eventually Kemboi, the younger of the two prevailed again in his season’s best time of 8:02.98 with Koech third in 8:03.21.
“My goal for the race was to run 7:45. I wanted to make sure my World record was in a safe place but we ran so fast in the second kilometre.”
“From the fifth lap on, the competition was mainly between me and the clock.”
“In Helsinki next year, I will be running the 5000m and the 3000m Steeplechase.”
LA
