Avinash Sable finishes 10th in Rabat Diamond League 3000m SC; El Bakkali wins with meet record

Here are the details of the 2023 Rabat Diamond League in which Avinash Sable will participate in men’s 3000m steeplechase event.

Sable finished with a timing of 8:17:18, nearly six seconds off his personal best. 

India’s Avinash Sable settled for a 10th-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase at the Diamond League meet at Rabat, Morocco on Monday.

Tokyo Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco, blitzed through the field to win the race and rewrote his own meet record with a timing of 7:56:69, which is also the eight-fastest 3000m SC timing of all time. El Bakkali’s timing is the world-leading mark for the season and was also a personal best for him.

El Bakkali began the race right up front and took over once the pace setters dropped away. From there on, the Moroccan would not let the lead slip.

Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, who both ran their personal best races, finished second and third respectively, but couldn’t get close to El Bakkali in the closing stage, with the 27-year-old even finding time to celebrate even before he crossed the line.

Sable, who was running his first 3000m SC race of the season, started from the inside track and could never match up with the ferocious pace up front, which was hovering close to the World Record mark.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games sliver medallist struggled with the trailing pack and would finish with a timing of 8:17:18, nearly six seconds off his personal best.