Avinash Sable has made a habit of breaking his own records and setting new benchmarks. On Wednesday, the steeplechaser set yet another national record, his fifth in three years, while also breaching the Olympic qualification mark, also for the second time.
Sable clocked 8:20.20s, more than a second off his 2019 national mark. It started with breaking Gopal Saini’s long-standing mark in 2018 and since then, Sable has only gotten better.
RELATED|
“I know I have to compete against myself and it is difficult but not impossible. I set a target before every event and train accordingly, depending on my fitness. Competing internationally helps because you get pushed to do better,” Sable admitted.
Even as Sable went around setting yet another national record, the men's 3000m steeplechase saw several injuries and the organisers running around to find emergency medical support.
While Haryana's Naveen Kumar Dagar slipped and fractured both his tibia and fibula on the left leg, Prince Raj Mishra of Sikkim twisted and dislocated his left ankle. Both accidents happened on turns on the track and while Naveen was being attended to by doctors and lifted into the ambulance, Prince kept writhing in pain for a while before one of the AFI officials brought in his own vehicle.
- Neeraj, Tajinder bag top honours -
Neeraj Chopra, meanwhile, bettered his own meet record by almost two metres with a best throw of 87.80m but fell short of a new national mark. With nothing at stake here, however, Chopra could afford to use the event as more of a tune-up on the road to Tokyo. It was still better than the Tokyo entry standard.
RELATED|
The other big hope for Olympics, shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, could only manage a best throw of 20.58m, good enough to win the competition but way off the qualifying mark of 21.10m.
Comments
SHARE