Steeplechaser Avinash Sable gets set for a third world championships

Avinash Sable has been quietly building up for the World Athletics Championships away from home and spotlight this year. The 3000m steeplechase runner has trained in altitude at Colorado Springs and St Moritz, Switzerland ahead of the Budapest championships which start on Saturday.

Training alongside two-time Olympic 5000m medallist Paul Chelimo, the Kenyan-born U.S. athlete, Sable is putting his body under severe test. He does not have a good memory of last year’s World Championships in Eugene, Oregon where he finished 11th in the final, unable to deal with a tactical race that was one of the slowest in the history of the world championships. But the Armyman was quick to pick himself up and banish those ghosts at the Commonwealth Games a month later in Birmingham, running his best among a pack of Kenyan runners to win silver. In the process, Sable improved his national record for the ninth time, clocking 8:11.20s after almost chasing down Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot (8:11.15) in the home stretch.

This year, Sable, 28, has competed in three Diamond League events in steeplechase. Of them, his best of the season was at Silsea, Poland, where his timing of 8:11.63 saw him qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics much in advance. The good thing for Sable is that he is closer to the national record early in the year, says coach Scott Simmons.

This year, Sable also broke a 30-year-old national record in 5000m at the Sound Running Track Meet in San Juan Capistrano, US. Sable clocked 13:25.65s and went past the record of Bahadur Prasad (13:29.70), set in Birmingham way back in 1992.

“His 8:11 at CWG was a great marker as he only approached this by the Commonwealth Games at the end of his season,” says Simmons, who is training the Indian distance runners.

Last year, Sable had ventured out of the country for training for the first time and the result was impressive. Simmons says he has improved this season in endurance, speed and pacing of the race. Simmons says Sable was quick to adapt and change gears in training in the last few months. A workout video of Sable and Chelimo at Colorado Springs shows the high intensity training they have been doing on the track.

“His adaptation upon his return to altitude this year was almost instant. Our preparation for the world championships is excellent. We have continued his progression in terms of aerobic volume, anaerobic threshold and race pace intensity from last year with great results in training. He has been running stride-for-stride with Chelimo,” says Simmons.

These are all good signs for Sable, but the 3000m steeplechase is a tactical race and one can never predict the outcome in a major competition. The Eugene race last year is a case in point. Sable could not break free from the bunch of runners and waited for the right time to push ahead. By the time he made his move, it was too late. Morocco’s Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali, one of the fastest in the field, finished first, clocking 8:25.13. That was an eye-opener for Sable and in Birmingham he never lost touch with the lead pack before timing his final surge to perfection. Sable’s audacious move surprised the field comprising many world class runners.

In Budapest, Sable would back himself to spring another surprise. Simmons says Sable is in a much better space when it comes to tactical nous and ability to run hard in the final stretch.

All talk in the lead up to the world championships has been about the clash between El Bakkali and Ethiopian Lamecha Girma, the two top contenders for gold. Girma, the Olympic and worlds silver medallist, bettered the world record this season with a sensational 7:52.11 in the Paris Diamond League.

Olympic and world champion El Bakkali has been eyeing the milestone and would be keen to prove himself in Budapest. Bakkali too has been on fire this year, setting a personal best at home in the Rabat Diamond League (7:56.68), the second fastest time this year. The tall Moroccan has won three Diamond League legs.

Then there is Abraham Kibiwot, Simon Kiprop and several other top runners who will be fancying their chances. Sable though would be no pushover. The big change for Sable after the CWG is in his mindset. He is no longer running to chase down the national record but believes he can finish on the podium in major meets. In Birmingham, Sable had set the pace along with the Kenyan runners and was confident of breaking free with a great finishing kick. He would be looking to do the same in Budapest.

“While the level of competition in the steeplechase has never been higher, Avinash has a belief in himself and has the hard training behind him to compete with the best.”