PARIS, Aug 27: Saif Saaeed Shaheen, a former Kenyan running for a new country under an adopted name, completed the final stage of an incredible journey on Tuesday.

Known until this month as Stephen Cherono, Shaheen won the world steeplechase title for Qatar after switching nationalities to secure his economic future.

Determined to beat a Kenyan trio including his older brother Abraham and defending champion Reuben Kosgei, Shaheen set off at a startling pace accompanied by team mate Khamis Abdullah Saifeldin.

Kenyan Ezekiel Kemboi gave chase and caught up with Shaheen but the pace inexplicably slowed at 2,000 metres, allowing the chasing pack to move into contention.

Over the last 800 metres, Shaheen and Kemboi accelerated again and the race was decided on a sprint finish in which Qatar’s new acquisition proved the stronger.

Maria Mutola, supreme over the women’s 800 metres for the past decade, looked briefly vulnerable in the finishing straight after her training partner Kelly Holmes kicked on the final bend.

She fought back to draw level with the Briton then pulled away to win in one minute 59.89 seconds.

Austrian Stephanie Graf, who finished second behind her Mozambican rival in both the last Olympic Games and world championships, withdrew from the race on Tuesday morning after a cut in her foot required stitches.

Jerome Young, once the heir apparent to Michael Johnson in the 400 metres before injury disrupted his career, finally fulfilled his potential with victory over world indoor record holder Tyree Washington.

German discus thrower Lars Riedel, seeking to match pole vaulter Sergei Bubka by winning a sixth individual gold in the same event, finished fourth in Tuesday’s final.

Lithuania’s Olympic champion Virgilijus Alekna bettered his previous best with a first throw of 69.69 metres to win the title.

Russian Tatyana Lebedeva retained her women’s triple jump crown with a leap of 15.18 metres to beat Cameroon’s Francois Mbango Etone, who took silver for the second time in a row.

American sprinter Jon Drummond, who stopped competition for nearly an hour on Sunday when he was disqualified from the 100 metres second round heats, withdrew from the championships on Tuesday.

The United States 4x100 relay team will now start without Drummond, Olympic 100 champion Maurice Greene, who was injured in the semi-finals, and world record holder Tim Montgomery who has decided to return home.

Medals table after the fourth day of competition at the world athletics championships on Tuesday:

Gold Silver Bronze Total

Belarus 3 0 3 6

Russia 3 0 3 6

United States 2 3 0 5

Ethiopia 2 2 1 5

Sweden 2 1 0 3

Ecuador 1 0 0 1

Lithuania 1 0 0 1 Mozambique 1 0 0 1

Qatar 1 0 0 1

St Kitts-Nevis 1 0 0 1

South Africa 1 0 0 1

Hungary 0 2 0 2

France 0 1 1 2

Britain 0 1 1 2

Greece 0 1 1 2

Spain 0 1 1 2

Cameroon 0 1 0 1

Cuba 0 1 0 1

Germany 0 1 0 1

Ireland 0 1 0 1

Kenya 0 1 0 1

Trinidad &

Tobago 0 1 0 1

Ukraine 0 0 2 2

Bahamas 0 0 1 1

Canada 0 0 1 1

China 0 0 1 1

Italy 0 0 1 1

Japan 0 0 1 1

—Reuter