Athletics
Xiamen Diamond League: Avinash Sable clocks 8:22.59s to begin season
Sable's timing was incidentally the second best among the Asian runners.
A 13th place finish was all that Sable managed in the men's steeplechase final. (File photo)
Olympian Avinash Sable, Indian ace steeplechase runner, began his 2025 outdoor season at the first Diamond League meeting of the year in Xiamen, China, on Saturday.
He clocked a time of 8:22.59s to finish in 13th position in the final of the men's steeplechase event, which was incidentally the second best among the Asian runners after Ryuji Miura (8:10.11s) of Japan, who finished sixth.
This was Sable's first event after the Diamond League final last year, where he finished in 9th position with a time of 8:17.09s. Miura and Sable now hold the top two positions on the Asian charts for the year thus far in the discipline.
Samuel Firewu clinched the title in Xiamen with a meet record timing of 8:05.61s, finishing ahead of the Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco (8:06.66s), who finished second.
Sable will now be heading for the second Diamond League meeting of the year in Shanghai, China, on 3rd May. He will be hoping for a better timing there, which will be his final event before the 2025 Asian Championships in South Korea.
