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India’s star distance runner Avinash Sable etched his name in the record books yet again by erasing the 30-year-old Indian men’s 5000m record at the Sound Running Track Meet held at Catholic High School in California on Friday night.
In a highly competitive field, the Indian athlete finished 12th but clocked 13:25.65 to better the previous national record of 13:29.70 set in 1992 by Bahadur Prasad in Birmingham.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Norway’s Olympic 1500m champion, won the 5000m race in 13 minutes and 02.03 seconds.
With a 5000m national record under his belt, the 27-year-old is the first Indian runner to hold a national 3000m steeplechase and a 21km record at the same time.
Last month, Sable went to Colorado Springs for a two-month training stint to prepare for upcoming international meets, including the Brimingham Commonwealth Games and Eugene World Athletics Championships. Long distance coach Scott Simmons of the US is overseeing Sable’s training in the USA.
The California 5000m race was Sable’s second attempt at the distance. Last month Sable made an effort to break the national record at the 25th National Federation Cup Athletics Championships held in Kozhikode, Kerala, but fell short of his goal. In a rain-delayed men’s 5000m race Sable clocked a creditable 13:39.43 seconds to win gold. It was the fastest time on Indian soil and better than the meet record of 13:47. 28 seconds.
Sable, India’s Tokyo Olympian and 3000-meter steeplechase specialist, has a knack for breaking track records. Since 2018 he has improved the national steeplechase record half a dozen times.
In March this year, he also improved his own national steeplechase record by clocking 8:16.21 in a domestic meet in Kerala. Sable also holds the national 21km record of one hour and 30 seconds set in 2020. He is the first Indian male runner to break the 61-minute barrier for 21km.
