Early Competition For Kenya
Stephen 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. A world junior record in the 3000 m steeplechase followed in 2001 at the Memorial van Damme meet in Brussels – his mark of 7:58.66 has stood for almost a decade. He went on to become the world champion over the 3000 metre steeplechase course in 2003 and again in 2005.
He began to experiment with longer distances and in 2003 he ran the fastest 5000 metres race in the world, a 12:48.81 in a meet in Ostrava in which he defeated multiple world champion Hicham El Guerrouj by two seconds and his 12:48.81 ranks him on the top ten all-time list for 5000 metres.
Read more about this topic: Saif Saaeed Shaheen
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