Avinash bags gold in 3,000m steeplechase at inter-state athletics championship

Panchkula, June 29

29-years-old Asian Games champion Avinash Sable was a comfortable winner in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase here on Saturday on the penultimate day of the National Inter-State Senior Athletics Championships. On his way to winning the gold medal, Sable clocked 8:31.75s to improve his own meet record of 8:33.19s recorded in 2019.

The versatile distance runner had clocked 8:11.63 last year in Poland, which was better than the Paris Olympic Games qualification time of 8:15 in the 3,000 steeplechase.

Sable said the race was part of his preparation for the Olympic Games in France. “I didn’t push as there was no competition,” Sable said on the easy win, adding that his main target was to peak at the Olympic Games. “I will peak at the right time,” he added. “I will compete in the Paris Diamond League in France on July 7. It will be my final race before the Olympic Games.”

Asian Games champion, Tajinderpal Singh Toor and Parul Chaudhary were among several Paris Olympic Games hopefuls who tested their skills today. Toor was the easy winner in men’s shot put while Parul dominated the women’s 3,000m steeplechase.

Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also unveiled the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) new logo in the presence of AFI president Adille Sumariwalla.

Men 3,000m steeplechase: Avinash Sable (Maharashtra) 8:31.75 seconds, Sumit Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 8:46.93 seconds, Shankar Swami (Haryana) 8:47.05 seconds.

Pole vault: Yugendran R (Tamil Nadu) 5m, M Gowtham (Tamil Nadu) 4.90m, Lakshay (Haryana) 4.90m.

Shot put: Tajinderpal Singh Toor (Punjab) 19.93m, Samardeep Gill (Madhya Pradesh) 19.68m, Aryan Tyagi (Uttar Pradesh) 18.02m.

Hammer throw: Praveen Kumar (Rajasthan) 68.76m, Damneet Singh (Punjab) 66.40m, Mohammad Shahban (Uttar Pradesh) 65.02m.