Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, July 19: Avinash Sable, who holds the national record for India, came in 11th place in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final on Tuesday at the World Athletics Championship 2022 in Oregan, USA.
Olympic Champion Soufiane El Bakkali won gold with a timing of 8:25.13s, while Sable finished in 8:31.75s. Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya finished third and Laecha Girmia of Ethiopia took home the silver medal.
One of India’s sportsmen that has recently made the most improvements is the 27-year-old from Beed, Maharashtra. His time of 8 minutes and 31.75 seconds at the global meet, nevertheless, was not enough to position him on the podium against a tough competition. Sable had reached the World Championships final twice prior to this one. He qualified for the 15-man field in the final with a time of 8:18.75 in his heat.
Sable set the men’s 3000m steeplechase national record in June in the Rabat Diamond League with a time of 8:12.48.
Over the past few years, Sable’s ascent has been steady. Due to an ankle injury, he was unable to qualify for the 2018 Asian Games. However, later that year, in the 2018 National Open Championships in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, he broke Gopal Saini’s 37-year-old national record of 8:30.88 by running 8:29.80.
At the 2019 Federation Cup in Patiala, where he ran in 8:28.94, he broke his own personal best. As a result, he qualified for both the 2019 World Athletics Championships and Asian Athletics Championships, making him the first Indian male steeplechaser to do so since Deena Ram in 1991.
He placed second in his first international competition in the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha with a time of 8:30.19. In the heats of the World Championships, he ran an 8:25.23, breaking his own personal best. He placed ninth in the heats and was eliminated from contention for the finals after taking the brunt of Takele Nigate’s unintentional trip during the race. He was the first Indian to qualify for the finals after the Athletics Federation of India won its appeal.
