Saif Saaeed Shaheen (), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He currently holds the world record 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 won the steeplechase at the 2002 Commonwealth Games for Kenya but switched allegiance to Qatar in 2003. 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. 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. He returned in 2009 and 2010 but failed to reach the same level of performance and retired from the sport. Early competition for Kenya Stephen Cheruiyot 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. 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. 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. 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