Avinash Sable breaks national record in 3000m steeplechase for the 8th time, at Rabat Diamond League

Avinash Sable's timing at the Rabat Diamond League would have helped him finish fourth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Avinash Sable (File photo)

India's Avinash Sable broke the national record in the 3000m steeplechase with a timing of 8.12.48 at the Rabat Diamond League on Sunday.

Enroute to finishing fifth in the race in Morocco, Sable pipped the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Benjamin Kigen.

Incidentally, his timing would have helped him place fourth in the Tokyo Games.

The 27-year-old has shaved off nearly four seconds from his own previous national record (and personal best) which was 8.16.21 at the Indian Grand Prix in Thiruvananthapuram in March earlier this year. His NR-brreaking timing in Rabat was the 8th time he has set the steeplechase record. He first broke it in 2018 when he clocked 8.29.80 at the inter state championships to erase the then 37-year-old mark of 8.30.88 set by Gopal Saini.

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Sable recently clocked 13.25.65 in the men’s 5000m at the Sound Running meet in San Juan Capistrano, USA last month to erase the longest standing national record in men’s track athletics – Bahadur Prasad’s mark of 13.29.70 that had held firm for 30 years.

The 5000m record – which Sable claimed in just his second competitive race over that distance is also the third national record in his name – more than any other athlete currently. He also has the national record in the men’s half marathon as well as the national record in the men’s steeplechase event.