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Last month, Richard Matelong, who after years trying, finally got a gold medal in Addis Ababa where he beat a strong challenge from the Ethiopian runners.

AFRICA'S NEW 3,000M steeplechase champion, Richard Kipkemboi Matelong, had always dreamed of becoming a star, but for a long time he was unable to achieve this dream. Matelong was born on October 14, 1983 at Lenape village near Narok in Kenya's Rift Valley Province. Like many other Kenyan runners, his talent was spotted early in life. He developed his fitness by running five kilometres to school every day.

After encouragement from his teacher, he began competing in races in 1998 while still in secondary school. He reached the provincial level in the schools' competitions in the 1500m and steeplechase.

Having seen former world steeplechase record holder Moses Kiptanui, make and break the records in his illustrious decade-long career, Matelong always wanted to step into his boots. After all, age was on his side.

However, it required more than just conviction and determination for him to ascend to the top.

HIS FIRST CHANCE CAME in June 2007 when he won the national trials at Nyayo National Stadium against strong opposition from both Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi and silver medalist Brimin Kipruto.

"I knew I was in top form; I had been training hard under my manager, Gianni Demadonna. With no coach, all I had was an e-mail detailing how to train, but I followed his instructions to emerge victorious in the national trials for the world championship," he said.

Matelong then moved into a camp with his compatriots and they strategised on how to make sure Kenya reclaimed the title, which the country had lost to Said Saeef Shaheen (Stephen Cherono) of Qatar in Helsinki, Finland in 2005. With Shaheen out of the competition due to injury, the three runners exchanged the lead in all the eight laps and it was everyone for himself in the final dash, in which Matelong was beaten by winner Kipruto and Kemboi (silver) to settle for the bronze.

"I was not disappointed with the bronze. I had actually broken into the top three in the race and I knew it was a matter of time before I got myself a title. The bronze was enough for me in Osaka," he said.

Last month, Matelong finally got a gold medal in Addis Ababa where he beat a strong challenge from the Ethiopians. He clocked 8:31.68 to beat training mate Michael Kipyego (8:32.94) and Willy Komen (8:41.98) to second and third slots respectively.

However, the road for the African champion has been long and difficult. After graduating from Amalo Secondary School in 2001, Matelong joined the Kenya Police to pursue his athletics career.

He represented the force in the 2003 National Championships, finishing ninth in the steeplechase. It was then that he was noticed by German manager Silvia Abmayr, who arranged European competitions for him the following year.

Winning the steeplechase in the 2004 Police Championship (8:50.02), Matelong ran 8:17.28 two days later to win in Rehlingen, Germany. He returned to Kenya for the Olympic trials, where he was placed fifth at 8:25.2. The result was not good enough for him to win a ticket to Athens.

Instead, he was selected to represent Kenya in the African Championships in Brazzaville, where he won silver in 8:26.34 behind team-mate David Chemweno. Four more European races followed, highlighted by a win in Heusden, Germany where he set his personal best time of 8:11.33. He however lost in Brussels Golden League to finish sixth (8:05.96) and settled for fifth slot at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart (8:14.22).

Early in 2007, Matelong won the Police Cross Country. He however faded to 13th position in the Kenyan trials for the World Cross Country Championships because of stomach cramps. At the World Cross Country in Mombasa, he failed to finish. He went on to run three steeplechase races on the European circuit last season, but his second finish of 8:06.66, behind Olympic champion Ezekiel Kemboi in Athens, was the fourth best performance of the year.

He went on to finish third at the Kenyan trials (8:18.44), ahead of such veterans as the 2000 Olympic champion Reuben Kosgei and Paul Kipsiele Koech to earn a ticket to Osaka where he won a bronze.