Sable, who was born in a poor family (his parents were daily wage workers) at Mandwa, a village in Maharashtra’s Beed district, is now keen to do well at his maiden Olympics (July 23-August 8)
Avinash Sable (right) with coach Amrish Kumar during a training session at the Sports Authority of India, Bangalore, recently
India’s Tokyo-bound 3000 metres steeplechase runner Avinash Sable, 26, is known for breaking his own records, and it is this grit that helped him qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
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Sable, who was born in a poor family (his parents were daily wage workers) at Mandwa, a village in Maharashtra’s Beed district, is now keen to do well at his maiden Olympics (July 23-August 8). And his coach Amrish Kumar has no doubt that he will excel.
“All the athletes are running for a medal and our target is that too but I don’t believe in putting too much emphasis on a medal as it creates unnecessary psychological pressure on athletes. I believe if we give our best, a medal will come. And I’m confident Avinash will come up with his best performance in Tokyo,” Kumar, who is currently training Sable at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Bangalore, told mid-day on Thursday.
Sable first broke Gopal Saini’s (8:30.88sec) 37-year-old national record with a timing of 8:29.80sec at the National Open Championships, Bhubaneswar in 2018.
Then, in his first international appearance, during the Asian Athletics Championships at Doha in April 2019, the Army athlete won a silver medal with a timing of 8:30.19sec.
He bettered his national mark, clocking 8:21.37sec in the final of World Athletics Championships (WAC) at Doha in October 2019. But his best show came in the Federation Cup at Patiala last March, where he clocked 8:20.20sec.
Kumar feels Sable’s all-round toughness makes him a top athlete. “Avinash is very strong mentally. His VO2 Max [The maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during increasingly intense exercise] is excellent, so physically too, he’s in great shape. The WAC in Doha had the world’s top 30 athletes and Avinash proved his worth by finishing 13th in the final positions,” said Kumar.
As per the schedule, Sable’s event is at 9am on July 30, but according to the coach, there are chances of a change in timing. “To prepare for this possible change in race time, we have altered our training schedule. So, on some days, we train in the mornings [5.30am or 9am] and on other days, we practice in the afternoon [3pm or 6pm].
“We have two sessions, so sometimes we do one in the morning and one in the evening. Bangalore has a good height above sea level [920 metres], so it’s the perfect place to train,” Kumar signs off.
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