How did Avinash Sable qualify for Paris Olympics 2024?
India’s premier 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable qualified for the Paris Olympics 2024 after meeting the qualifying standard (8:15.00 seconds) at the Diamond League meet in Silesia, Poland, clocking a timing of 8:11.63 seconds in July 2023.
Olympic champion El Bakkali Soufiane from Morocco secured the gold medal, clocking 8:03.16 seconds while Abraham Kibiwot and Leonard Kipkemoi Bett from Kenya clinched silver and bronze medals, respectively, with 8:08.03 seconds and 8:09.45 seconds.
Notably, Avinash Sable finished at the sixth position in the race. Interestingly, Sable became the first track athlete and the sixth Indian from the country to qualify for the Paris Olympics in July 2023.
Hailing from Ashti, Beed district, Maharashtra, Avinash Sable most recently created a new national record for the whopping 10th time at the Paris Diamond League 2024 in July at the Stade Sebastien Charlety, finishing at the sixth rank with 8:09.91 seconds.
Ethiopia's 22-year-old athlete Abrham Sime bagged the gold medal while Kenya's Amos Serem and Abraham Kibiwot secured silver and bronze medals, clocking 8:02.36s and 8:06.70 seconds, respectively.
Avinash Sable previously created the national record in CWG 2022
Avinash created the previous national record at the Commonwealth Games in 2022 in Birmingham, clocking a timing of 8:11.20 seconds, and bagging the silver medal.
Interestingly, that was the first time an athlete from outside Kenya secured a medal in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event at the CWG since 1994.
After missing out on the Asian Games in 2018 due to an ankle injury, Avinash made a strong comeback in the National Open Championships to create a new national record and break the 37-year-old NR held by Gopal Saini of 8:30.88 seconds, clocking 8:29.80 seconds.
Subsequently in 2019, Sable created yet another national record at the Federation Cup in 2019, clocking 8:28.94 seconds. Later, he made the cut for the Asian Athletics Championships and World Athletics Championships in 2019.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Avinash Sable placed seventh in the heats, set the then-national record, clocking 8:18.12 seconds, ending as the fastest non-qualifier across the heats.
At the Asian Games in 2023, he clinched the gold medal in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event while he bagged a silver medal in the 5000m event.