“Sable’s next stop will be the World Athletic Championships" - Coach Jaiveer Singh backs Avinash Sable to continue dominance ahead of Asian Games

Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Avinash Sable produced a fine performance in the Men’s 3000m steeplechase last night in Silesia, Poland. His strong showing helped him to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games.

The 28-year-old Sable finished sixth in the 3000m steeplechase race with a time of 8:11.63 seconds, which was better than the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualification time.

Here's what the national athletics coach Jaiveer Singh told Sportskeeda over the phone from Bengaluru.

“His (Sable) performance in Europe will certainly give a big boost to his confidence ahead of the Budapest World Athletics Championships starting August 19,” said Singh.

According to Singh, qualifying early for the 2024 Olympic Games has a big advantage as it will enable the athlete to primarily focus for the big competition in 2024.

“Sable’s next stop will be the World Athletic Championships starting August 19 in Hungary. After competing in Budapest, Sable will fly back to his altitude training base in Colorado Springs in the USA,” the national athletics coach added.

The core group of national middle and long distance runners, including Avinash Sable, have been practicing in the USA since March this year to prepare for major international events including Hangzhou Asian Games starting September 23 in China. Sable skipped the just concluded 25th Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok to focus on next month’s global competition in Europe.

Sable started his 2023 track season with a 5000m race in May in California. His first steeplechase event was on May 28 at Rabat Diamond League in Morocco. He finished 10th with a time of 8:17.18, a season-best. Sable’s second steeplechase competition was on July 2 at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden. In a rain-soaked track, he finished fifth with a time of 8:21.88.

According to the national coach, Sable stayed back in Sweden after the Stockholm competition to prepare for his next race in Poland.

“He arrived in Poland three days before the race. He had enough time to prepare for the local weather conditions,” the national coach added.

Budapest World Athletics Championships will be the third in a row for Sable. The national coach believes, competing in three Diamond Leagues were a good platform to prepare for next month’s World Athletics Championships. Sable was a 3000m steeplechase finalist at the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championships and 2022 Eugene World Championships.

Sable’s personal best of 8:11.20 seconds was clocked on his way to a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

“Hopefully he will be able to improve his national record in Budapest,” the athletics coach added. “After the world championships Sable will compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games.”