Indian athlete Avinash Sable has secured his place in the final of the men’s 3000m steeplechase at the Paris Olympics, finishing fifth in his heat at the Stade de France.
Sable began Heat 2 with a strong performance, initially staying close behind Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot. Despite stumbling over a hurdle as the race progressed, Sable managed to maintain his position and clocked a time of 8:15.43 seconds.
He finished behind Morocco’s Mohamed Tindouft (8:10.62), Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu (8:11.61), Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot (8:12.02), and Japan’s Ryuji Miura (8:12.41).
In Heat 1, Morocco’s Soufiyane El Bakkali led with a time of 8:17.90 seconds to secure his spot in the final. Other qualifiers included Uganda’s Leonard Chemutai (8:18.19), Ethiopia’s Getnet Wale (8:18.25), Spain’s Daniel Arce (8:18.31), and Tunisia’s Ahmed Jaziri (8:18.33).
Kenya’s Amos Serem, who won the national trials, finished sixth after a mishap with the water jump, failing to qualify for the final.
Earlier, Indian athlete Kiran Pahal placed seventh in Heat 5 of the women’s 400m event with a time of 52.51 seconds. She did not advance to the semifinals but will have another opportunity in the repechage round.
In the men’s long jump, Jeswin Aldrin fell short of the qualification mark. His best attempt of 7.61 metres in Group B placed him 13th, failing to reach the required 8.15 metres. Aldrin concluded his campaign in 26th place overall, missing the final cut.
