New Delhi: October 05: Indian player Avinash Sable sealed his berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as he clocked a national record timing of 8:21:37 in the men’s 3000m steeplechase final at the AIIF World Athletics Championship 2019. He also bettered his own national record of 8:25.23 which he clocked on Tuesday during the first round heats. The Olympic qualification mark had been set at 8:22:00 and the 25-year-old managed to qualify for the Olympics with a record timing, his second national record in three days, which was 0.63s quicker than the allotted mark.
But the difference in class with the medal winners was evident as he finished far behind at 13th spot out of 15 who completed the race.
Reigning Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto of Kenya took the crown with a timing of 8:01.35, while Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma (8:01.36) and Morocco’s Soufiane Bakkali (8:03.76) took the silver and bronze respectively.
