World Athletics Championships 2022: Avinash Sable finishes in best-ever 11th place in 3000m steeplechase final

India’s Avinash Sable finished 11th in the final of the men’s 3000m steeplechase event with a disappointing show on the fourth day of competitions at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The 27-year-old Sable clocked 8:31.75, way below his season’s and personal best of 8:12.48, which is a national record.

He had qualified for the final after finishing third in heat number 3 and seventh overall with a time of 8:18.75. Sable had finished 13th in the last edition of the championships in Doha in 2019 with the then national record time of 8:21.37.

News Flash:
Avinash Sable finished 11th in Men's 3000m Steeplechase at World Athletics Championships after clocking 8:31.75 (Personal Best: 8:12.48).
Soufiane El Bakkali won Gold clocking 8:25.13. #WCHOregon22 pic.twitter.com/pRs6ucJhdz — India_AllSports (@India_AllSports) July 19, 2022

Morocco's season leader and reigning Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali won the gold with a time of 8:25.13 while Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma, who won silver in both the Tokyo Games and last World Championships, finished second in 8:26.01.

Kenya’s defending champion Conseslus Kipruto was third with a time of 8:27.92. Sable has been on a national record breaking spree in recent times. His latest best was 8:12.48 when he finished fifth at the prestigious Diamond League Meeting in Rabat last month.

Noah Lyles celebrates 25th birthday in style

Noah Lyles celebrated his 25th birthday by running the fastest time in 200-meter qualifying at World Athletics Championships 2022 Monday, a 19.98-second romp that he punctuated by playfully wagging his finger at the six other sprinters straggling behind.

Lyles, last year’s Olympic bronze medallist, was part of a cavalcade of the world’s best sprinters — including 100 champions Fred Kerley and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and 18-years-old Erriyon Knighton — who cruised through the first heats of the 200 without much fuss.

Last month, Lyles beat Knighton to the line at nationals and wagged his finger at the teenager labeled as the future of the sport. Knighton didn’t take kindly to it, but on this, a night starting to ramp up for the final Thursday night, both sprinters downplayed the episode — at least for now.

“It’s a real chill,” Knighton said. “There’s no beef or nothing. At the end of the day, it’s just a sport.” Lyles wasn’t the only one celebrating a milestone on yet another clear, mild night for racing in Eugene, where the stands were about three-quarters full.

(with agency inputs)