Tokyo Olympics 2020: Avinash Sable betters his own 3000m steeplechase national record but misses final

Tokyo: India’s Avinash Sable shattered his own 3000m steeplechase national record but failed to qualify for the final despite clocking a better time than the top three in another heat race of the Olympic Games on Friday. The 26-year-old Sable clocked 8 minutes 18.12 seconds in heat number 2 to finish seventh and better his earlier national record of 8:20.20 that he set during the Federation Cup in March. But he was unlucky to miss the finals cut as only the top-three finishers from each heat are automatic qualifiers. The top-three from heat number 3 ran in a slower time than him. Fifteen athletes — the best three in each of the three heats and the next six fastest athletes across all the qualifying heats — qualify for the final. Sable ended seventh-best across all the qualifying heats and 13th overall.