Sable hopes to better his best at Worlds
Bengaluru: Laid low by a combination of poor form and injuries, India's premier 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable is confident to turn a corner at this year's World Championships in Tokyo (September 13-21). Avinash Sable will compete at the world championships in Tokyo in September. (Corbis via Getty Images)
The 30-year-old met the Worlds qualifying mark of 8:15.00 at last year's Paris Olympics where his 8:14.18 helped him finish eleventh. In the five races since, Sable has failed to come close to the qualification cut-off with his season's best of 8:20.92 being significantly off his personal best (8:09.91) which he achieved in Paris a month before the qualification window for the Worlds opened.
Currently training at Sports Authority of India's Bengaluru campus, the armyman said he had been carrying a niggle in his right hamstring and calf since the 2023 Asian Games where he secured gold with a time of 8:19.50.
'It used to hurt while running, which greatly affected my performance. I couldn't do well at the Olympics and the injury bothered me at the twin Diamond League meets this season,' Sable said, referring to his outings in Xiamen and Shanghai in April-May.
While Xiamen was his season opener where he ran 8:22.59 to finish 13th among 16 finishers, Shanghai saw him clock 8:23.85 for an eighth-place result.
'I participated in two Diamond League events in China despite the injuries, and the results were not great. I thought of opting out of those competitions but didn't because I did not want to run away from the challenge,' he said.
Sable then entered the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea 'to boost my confidence' and won the event with a time of 8:20.92. It's still way off the world standard or even his own personal best, but for Sable, it's all about a slow and steady build-up for the Worlds.
Sable had a forgettable outing in his last appearance at the World Championships two years back when he crashed out of the heats with a time of 8:22.24. This time, he wants to get close to breaching the 8-minute barrier.
'It won't happen instantly. I am working on it and if everything is in place, I should be able to do it within a couple of seasons. At the Worlds, I want to better my best and get as close to breaking that 8-minute mark as possible,' he said.
'I want to improve my position from last time at Worlds. This year I have worked on finishing the race and maximising the mileage. But more than the position, I want to improve my timing from the last time.'
Sable will next be in action at the Monaco Diamond League next month and is also planning to compete at a competition at home in the run-up to Worlds. His training is split between Ooty and Bengaluru and he is currently trained by SAI coach Kalyan Chaudhary.
'Kalyan sir has recently joined me. Before that, I was making my own training plans,' Sable, who moved out from Scott Simmons' stable earlier this year, said. 'Scott is a good coach but his training methods weren't conducive to my body, so I took that call.'
'The training with coach Nikolai (Snesarev) worked well for me, so I'm continuing with that. I haven't spoken to a long-term coach, and I'll continue like this for the season.'
Sable also dabbled with the idea of shifting his training base to Africa this year, but decided against it. Plans are, however, afoot to get a 45-day training window in Morocco's Irfane, a small town in Middle Atlas Mountains.
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