Toughening experiences in Siachen and Thar has made steeplechaser Avinash Sable ready for Tokyo Olympics

India’s Avinash Sable will be competing in the men’s 3000m steeplechase between July 23 and August 8 at the Olympic Games. His coach Amrish Kumar has said that the athlete isn’t worried about the hot and humid local weather conditions in Tokyo.

This is what Amrish said in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda.

“Avinash is prepared to tackle both Tokyo weather and rivals when he steps on track to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

According to Amrish, before Avinash Sable stamped his class as a middle-distance runner at the domestic level, he was performing general duty in the Army. It has toughened him mentally and physically.

“From being posted at the high altitude of Siachen Glacier to the arid region of Rajasthan, it has made Avinash strong mentally and physically to withstand tough conditions in the race,” said Amrish.

Amrish said Avinash was spotted six years ago during a routine Army cross country event. Later, Amrish, who was the Army’s middle-and-long distance coach, persuaded Avinash, who hails from Maharashtra’s Beed district, to switch to the 3000m steeplechase event.

“The shift turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Avinash. In his first race, the 3000m steeplechase race in 2017 in Chennai, the Army runner clocked 8 minutes 39 seconds,” recalls Army’s coach.

However, the rise to fame wasn’t a smooth passage as there were setbacks and disappointments.

Injury concerns for Avinash Sable in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics

An ankle injury in 2018 dashed Avinash’s hopes of making the cut for the Jakarta Asian Games. He finished fourth and outside the qualifying mark at the National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Guwahati. It was the last domestic qualifying meet for the Asian Games.

However, the Army runner bounced back later in the same year. At the National Open Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, he won the gold medal in men’s 3000m steeplechase with a national record of 8 minutes 28.94 seconds. It was better than Gopal Saini’s 37 years long standing record of 8 minutes 30.88 seconds.

“Avinash has both endurance and speed. It is an advantage in running steeplechase event,” said his coach.

The big breakthrough for Avinash came at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships. He became the first Indian to enter the men’s 3000m steeplechase final at the world championships. In the final he finished 13th out of 16 runners.

“He has improved his hurdle clearance since the world championships. He has learned how to navigate water jumps in a tight-field. All this should be handy when he competes in Tokyo,” explained Amrish.

In his final preparation, Avinash and his coach were supposed to train at the high altitude of Uganda’s Kapchorwa for more than two months. Unfortunately, the Exposure tour got canceled due to the pandemic.

Avinash is currently training in Bengaluru at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) training center.

Earlier in March at the Federation Cup Athletics Championships, Army’s steeplechaser further improved his personal best to 8 minutes 20.20 seconds.

“We are on the right track. Our basic aim is to enter the final in Tokyo. Then we will work out a strategy for the final race,” added the coach.

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