India’s top steeplechaser Avinash Sable on Sunday, July 16 became the first track and field athlete to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024 after clocking his career’s second best timing at the Silesia Diamond League 2023 Athletics Meet in Chorzów, Poland. Sable achieved a season’s best 8th timing. :11:63, which was seconds less than his personal best of 8:11:20. Sable easily broke the Olympic qualifying mark of 8:15.00 for the men’s 3000 m steeplechase event.
Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, who won the Commonwealth Games 2022 gold last year, finished second in 8:08.03, while reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champion, Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco clocked a meet record time of 8:03:16. Won the race.
The Olympic qualification period began on July 1, 2023, and will continue through June 30, 2024.
Sable earned three qualification ranking points ahead of the Diamond League Final 2023 in Silesia and is now ninth in the standings with seven points. This was Sable’s third appearance in the Diamond League 2023 and her best. He finished 10th in the Rabat leg with a timing of 8:17.18 and fifth in the Stockholm leg with a timing of 8:21.88.
Prior to the Diamond League finals, athletes are awarded points instead of medals. The top eight athletes in each event at the end of all stages will qualify for the finals, where they will compete for the trophy.
Silesia was the eighth leg of the Diamond League and after that, only the Monaco and Shenzhen legs would feature a men’s 3000 m steeplechase event. The Diamond League final will be held on September 16-17 in Eugene, USA.
Sable will next be seen at the World Athletics Championships to be held in Budapest, Hungary from August 19-24.