Athletics
Tokyo Olympics player profile - Steeplechaser Avinash Sable
With just three months remaining for Tokyo Olympics, we look at the profile of steeplechaser Avinash Sable who will be a part of India's athletics contingent.
Avinash Sable (Source: Instagram/Avinash Sable)
After being postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics is now just a little over three months away. Athletes all across the globe are sweating it out in their respective practice sessions with the sole aim of bringing laurels to their country from Tokyo, and the Indian athletes are no different.
The track and field athletes from the country seem assured to win India's first-ever athletics medal in the history of the Olympics at Tokyo. One of the representatives from the track and field contingent would be Steeplechaser Avinash Sable. Sable is currently at the peak of his powers. In the recently concluded Federation Cup Senior National Athletics Championships in Patiala, Sable set a new national record with a timing of 8:20.20. Let us look at his profile:
Where does Avinash Sable hail from?
Avinash hails from the Mandwa area of Beed district in Maharashtra.
How old is Avinash Sable?
Avinash Sable is 26 years old.
What is the family background of Avinash Sable?
Avinash Sable comes from a family of farmers.
What is Avinash Sable's educational qualification?
He is Armyman. He joined the 5 Mahar regiment of the Indian Army after completing his 12th Grade. He was being posted at the Siachen Glacier in 2013–2014, deserts of north-western Rajasthan, followed by Sikkim from 2015.
How was Avinash Sable introduced to athletics?
From age six, he would run or walk the 6 km (3.7 mi) distance between home and school as there was no transport facility in his village.
In which event of athletics does Avinash Sable specialise in?
Avinash Sable specialises in n 3000 metres steeplechase.
When did Avinash Sable start pursuing steeplechase seriously?
He first took part in inter-army cross country running in 2015 at the insistence of his colleagues, before switching to steeplechase under trainer Amrish Kumar. Sable, who was overweight, managed to lose 20 kg (44 lb) in three months, before joining the national camp where he was trained by Nikolai Snesarev.
What was Avinash Sable's claim to fame?
Avinash Sable bettered his personal best and rewrote the national record yet again in men's 3000m steeplechase to win the gold medal at the 24th National Federation Cup Senior Athletics Championships at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in Patiala in March 2021. He clocked a time of 8:20.20 in Patiala. The 26-year-old broke free of the pack after a lap and a half and then raced against the clock.
What is Avinash Sable's World Ranking?
Avinash Sable is ranked World Number 16 according to the present season ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
How did Avinash Sable qualify for the Tokyo Olympics?
Sable had earlier qualified for Tokyo Olympics in the men's 3000m steeplechase event by shattering his own national record twice in three days though he finished 13th in the final race of the World Championships in Doha in 2019. Avinash clocked 8 minutes 21.37 seconds to breach the Olympics qualifying standard of 8:22.00.
What are Avinash Sable's previous achievements at the senior level?
Sable won the silver medal at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, his debut international event, with timing of 8:30.19. On 1 October 2019, he again broke his own national record at the World Championships where he ran 8:25.23 in the heats, despite twice being at the receiving end of Takele Nigate's accidental tripping during the race, to finish seventh in the heats and out of contention for the final. However, after a successful appeal by the Athletics Federation of India, Sable was included in the final and became the first Indian to qualify for the 3000 metres steeplechase final at the World Championships. He further improved the national record to 8:21.37 in the final, finishing 13th out of 16 runners, and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
