Saif
Saaeed Shaheen of Qatar who
won both the 5000m and the
3000m Steeplechase at the
10th IAAF World Cup in
Athletics, was not only the
first runner ever to win
both of these events at the
World Cup, but he was also
the first to win a medal at
both distances.
While Moses Kiptanui and
Henry Rono of Kenya held the
World records at both 3000m
Steeplechase and 5000m, the
task of winning both events
at an individual global
championship - Worlds or
Olympics - remains
impressive.
No runner has ever won a
medal at the both events at
the World Championships in
Athletics, though during the
heyday of distance running
in the 1920s, when two great
runners – Ville Ritola and
Paavo Nurmi won medals in
both events at the Olympic
Games. In the 1924 Olympic
Games, Ritola won the 3000m
Steeplechase and finished
second in the 5000m, while
Nurmi at the 1928 Olympic
Games, finished second in
both disciplines.
Turning our eyes to
non-global championships,
Kenyans Ben Jipcho, in 1974
Games, and Henry Rono, in
1978, have completed doubles
at the Commonwealth Games.
Jipcho also won the both
events at the 1973 African
Games.
At the 1962 Asian Games,
Mubarak Shah won both the
3000m Steeplechase and
5000m, while in the 1995 and
2002 Asian Championships
Saad Al-Asmari and Khamis
Abdullah respectively were
victorious at both
distances.
Coming close at similar
achievements at global level
were Francesco Panetta who
won the 3000m Steeplechase
and finished second at the
10,000m in the 1987 World
Championships in Rome, and
Kip Keino won the 3000m
Steeplechase and finished
second at the 1500m at the
1972 Olympic Games in
Munich. Four years earlier
in the 1968 Games, Keino had
won the 1500m and finished
second at the 5000m.
Shaheen had skipped the IAAF
World Athletics Final in
Stuttgart, Germany (9 / 10
September 2006) to prepare
for his double attempt at
the IAAF World Cup in
Athletics, Athens, Greece.
He had hoped to win in the
5000m and race against
Kenenisa Bekele, but
Kenenisa withdrew. “The way
he (Kenenisa) runs this
season, he is not in the
best form like he used to be
in the last few years. So I
wanted to take this
opportunity to make him try.
I wish I will meet him in
the track soon” said
Shaheen.
