Avinash Sable qualifies for Paris Olympics after finishing sixth in Silesia Diamond League

Steeplechaser Avinash Sable became the latest Indian to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics after finishing sixth in the Silesia Diamond League meet in Poland on Sunday. Sable fell well short of his national record time of 8:11:20, clocking 8 minutes and 11.63 seconds in the meet on Sunday and failed to breach the top five in the event that was won by Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali. The 28-year-old, however, finished the event well within Paris Olympic qualifying mark of 8:15:00.

Sable, who took up the sport less than a decade back in 2015, had also qualified for the COVID-postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He became the first Indian to participate in an Olympic steeplechase event in nearly 70 years in the process. The Olympics qualification period began on 30 July and will continue till 30 June, 2024. He joins four 20km race walkers — Akshadeep Singh, Vikas Singh and Paramjeet Singh Bisht in men’s event and Priyanka Goswami in women’s event — and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar in the list of Indians who have qualified for the Paris Olympics so far. Long jumper Sreeshankar qualified for the Paris Games with a silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok on Saturday. Sable has already qualified for the World Championships (19-27 August) in Budapest, Hungary. With inputs from PTI