Doha, Oct 5 (UNI) Shattering his own national record for the second time in three days, India's Avinash Sable finished 13th in the final race of men's 3,000m steeplechase event at the World Athletics Championship and qualified for the next year's Tokyo Olympics.
Avinash clocked 8 minute 21.37 seconds to breach the Olympics qualifying standard of 8:22.00 on Friday. He also bettered his own national record of 8:25.23 which he clocked on Tuesday during the first round heats.
This is the fourth time he has set a new national record in the 3000m steeplechase event over the course of the last year, a record which had remained undisturbed since 1981.
Meanwhile, reigning Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya defended his 2017 title with a time of 8:01.35, more than 20 seconds faster than Avinash, while Lamecha Girma (8:01.36) of Ethiopia and Soufiane Bakkali (8:03.76) of Morocco took the silver and bronze respectively.
Sable, an Indian Army Havildar, who has served in Siachen and Rajasthan previously, has had a dramatic improvement in his times since June last year. In June 2018, at the Inter-State Championships in Guwahati, he recorded a timing of 8:49.25.
This year, he has brought it down to 8:28.94 (at the Fed Cup in March), 8:25.33 (in the heats of the Worlds) and 8:21.37 (in the Worlds final) in successive races.
UNI XC AVK ASN 1009