From Beed to Hangzhou: The untold story of Indian steeplechase runner Avinash Sable

India finished their Asian Games 2022 campaign with a total of 107 medals and achieved their target of winning over 100 medals in the 19th edition of the multisport Asian tournament. This is the highest number of medals that India have won at the Asian Games and the maximum medals at the Asiad 2022 were won in Athletics. India has evolved in Athletics and it was Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who won a medal gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and showed Indian athletes the way to do well in track and field events. Athletes such as sprinter Avinash Sable shined at the 2022 Asian Games and won a total of two medals. The latter won gold and silver medals in Men's 3000m steeplechase and Men's 5000m respectively. 

3 things you need to know 

• India won more than 20 medals in Athletics at the 2022 Asian Games 
• India's golden performance in Athletics will be very beneficial for the 2024 Paris Olympics 
• India sent a contingent of 655 athletes to the Asian Games 2022 which was the highest ever in the history of the Asiad 

Who is India's new steeplechase champion Avinash Sable? 

Indian long-distance runner Avinash Sable was born in the Mandwa village of Maharashtra's Beed district. Sable was recruited in the Indian Army after finishing his 12th grade and was posted in places like Siachen, Rajasthan and Sikkim. Sable experienced several challenges as he was placed in a place like Siachen where the temperature drops to negative whereas Jaisalmer is hotter as the temperature rises over 50 degrees Celsius. 

It was the year 2015 when Sable received an opportunity to learn about sports. The sprinter joined the Army athletics programme and was chosen for the cross-country competition. However, the Indian athlete only trained for a year and suffered multiple injuries. Sable finished fifth in the National Cross Country Championship. 

Due to the lack of training, Avinash Sable put up a lot of weight and also went through a lot of injuries. In 2017, army coach Amrish Kumar noticed his passion for the sport and invited him to try out the steeplechase category. The invitation proved to be a game-changer for both Sable and Indian athletes. 

Avinash Sable's rise in Steeplechase

Avinash Sable showed immense promise in the steeplechase category and finished fifth in the Federation Cup in the year 2017. Sable was only eight seconds behind the national record at the open national event in Chennai later that year. However, it was Sable's time to rise and he finished at 08:29.88 in the 2018 open nationals in Bhubaneshwar and broke the national record by 0.12 seconds, breaking Gopi Saini's 30-year-old record. 

For the first time, Avinash Sable struggled to train under Russian coach Nikolai Snesarev, but he was similar to army coach Amrish Kumar. The pair worked on several points and performed different techniques to improve Sable's pace. Avinash broke the National Record for the second time in the 2019 Federation Cup and clocked a time of 8:28.94. 

It also allowed Avinash Sable to qualify for the IAAF World Championships and also made him only the second Indian steeplechaser to qualify for the event after Deena Ram since the year 1991. Performing his debut run on the international stage, Sable won a silver medal in the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha in the year 2019. 

However, it was the Doha World Championship which gave Avinash Sable the breakthrough as he broke his national record twice. The Army man qualified for the finals of the world event and finished 13th, which was enough for qualifying in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This was the first time in 68 years that an Indian steeplechase runner had qualified for the Olympics..