Indian steeplechase athlete Avinash Sable sealed his ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after clocking a national record timing of 8:21:37 in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final at the IAAF World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
The 25-year-old needed to better the 8:22:00 mark in order to qualify for the next year’s Olympics. Avinash however aced it, finishing with a record timing that saw him set his second national record in three days.
Avinash however started the race in a slow manner and finished just 13th among the 15 that completed the race. But in the end, it proved to be enough as he saw himself claim his Olympic berth.
The journey to the 3000m steeplechase final wasn’t a straight forward one for Avinash. The athlete from Mandwa made it through after the Athletics Federation of India successfully protested that he was obstructed during his race in the heats.
However, the finals resulted in Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya taking home the gold medal after finishing nearly 20 seconds earlier than the time Avinash had taken to complete the race.
