[2] Having changed nationality from Gambia to Norway in 2006, he holds Norwegian records in the 100 and in the 200 metres,[3][4] and is the seventh and fourth fastest European of all times on the two distances.

[3] However, setting a national record did not inspire him to commence serious training, as he still preferred to play basketball and volleyball for fun with his schoolmates.

[2] Saidy later established a relationship with Heidi Trollsås, a retired 400 m hurdler hailing from the Norwegian city Sandefjord who competed on the national level.

Feeling that a professional agent was needed to handle Saidy's career, they hired noted Swedish athletics manager Daniel Westfeldt.

With the time of 21.53 seconds he finished fifth in his heat, behind such athletes as eventual bronze medalist Wes Felix and Leigh Julius.

The competition in the 2003 World Championships in Paris proved too tough, as Saidy once again failed to reach the second round.

[15] 2004 would be the year when Saidy won his first international medal at senior level, and progressed significantly in both the short sprint events.

[3] Two months later he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres event at the 2004 African Championships, clocking in 10.43 seconds and finishing behind Olusoji Fasuba and Idrissa Sanou.

Here, Saidy lowered his record to 10.26 seconds as he progressed by finishing third in his heat, behind eventual silver medalist Francis Obikwelu and Ronald Pognon.

[20] Two months before the World Championships, he had set another Gambian record in the 200 metres, running in 20.57 seconds on 12 June in Warsaw.

After the Commonwealth Games Saidy spent the next month training, before running a 20.89-second 200 metres in Dakar in late April.

The 2006 World Athletics Final was held in Stuttgart, and Saidy made an international breakthrough as he finished sixth in the 200 metres in a new Gambian record time of 20.47 seconds.

He did not run the 100 metres until late June, when he achieved a mediocre 10.50 seconds in pouring rain during a national meet in Lillehammer.

[25] The display of form continued at the end of the month, as he finally broke his three-year-old personal best in the 100 metres, running in 10.10 seconds in Tallinn.

[26] The news report titled "Norwegian record up next", he indeed lived up to the expectations: On 7 August he participated in both events at the DN Galan Super Grand Prix meet in Stockholm.

[32] Two days later, at the ISTAF meet in Berlin Saidy showed consistency as he finished in 10.14 seconds, this time ahead of Marlon Devonish to win his first Golden League race.

In the 200 metres, he beat recent World Championships bronze medalist Wallace Spearmon to clock in 19.89 seconds.

In September Saidy was nominated for the European athlete of the month award, but finished runner-up as Polish hurdler Marek Plawgo won the prize.

[36] In early 2008 he was declared Breakthrough Sportsperson of the Year in Norway, beating two female World Championships medalists in cross-country skiing.

[38] Ultimately, Gambia opted to block Saidy's participation for Norway in major international championships for three years.

This measure was created mainly to stop African athletes from pursuing careers in more wealthy nations, such as Olympic champion runner Saif Saaeed Shaheen who changed his allegiance from Kenya to Qatar.

[39] By the end of the year, only "formalities" remained as Saidy was presented as a part of the Norwegian elite athletics team for the first time.

[46] Saidy had been listed as a Gambian competitor in Luzern,[45] even though he got Norwegian citizenship half a year ago.

[47] Reacting to the case, Saidy immediately blamed passive marijuana smoking sustained during a visit at a friend's house a few days before the Luzern meeting.

[58] According to his coach, the World Indoor Championships had a "low status" among the best sprinters, moreover Saidy wanted to prepare thoroughly for the 2008 Olympic season.

[63] The result equalled the time achieved by the United States "Blue" team, with Tyson Gay in its ranks, one week earlier.

[66] In addition, the last fifteen metres of the race were hampered by hamstring pains, with Saidy clutching his thigh as he crossed the finish line.

[69] In Beijing he competed at the 100 metres sprint and placed 3rd in his heat after Derrick Atkins and Andrey Yepishin in a time of 10.37 seconds.

However, he was unable to qualify for the semi-finals as he finished in 4th place of his heat after Usain Bolt, Darvis Patton and Francis Obikwelu.

[71] Being slimmer than many sprinters, he has a relatively low body mass index and does not train bench press to enhance his pectoral muscles.