3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable sailed into the finals grade on the first day of the competitions of the World Athletics Championships 2022.
Sable ended up at the third position in heat number 3 clocking 8:18.75 to qualify for the finals. He was in the lead till the midway of the race. However, Hailemariyam Amare (8:18.34) of Ethiopia and Evan Jager (8:18.44) of the USA took over him.
For qualifying in the finals, the players have to end in the top three in each heat. The next six fastest runners across the three heats also qualify for the final.
The finals are scheduled for early morning Tuesday according to IST.
India's Sable had also made it to the final in the year 2019.
Sable has been on a national record-breaking spree in recent times with the latest being the 8:12.48 effort while finishing fifth at the prestigious Diamond League Meeting in Rabat last month.
Here's a glimpse of Sable's inspirational story:
The 27-year-old Sable hails from Mandwa, Beed district, Maharashtra. His family's occupation is farming. From a young age of six years, he used to run or walk around 6 km to reach his school from home, as there was a lack of transportation facilities back then. After finishing 12th standard, he joined the Indian army and was posted at the Siachen Glacier in the year 2013–2014, deserts of north-western Rajasthan, and followed by Sikkim in 2015.
He first took part in inter-army cross country running before switching to steeplechase under trainer Amrish Kumar.
Sable was overweight and with hard work and dedication lost 20 Kg in just three months to join the National camp.
