Avinash Sable earns 5th place finish in men’s 3000 m steeplechase at Stockholm Diamond League

Bern [Switzerland], July 3 (ANI): Indian athlete Avinash Sable finished fifth in the men’s 3000 m steeplechase event at the Stockholm Diamond League held at Switzerland on Sunday.

As per Olympics.com, Sable was competing at a rain-soaked Olympics Stadium at Stockholm and clocked 8:21.88 to earn fifth position. The reigning Olympic, world and Diamond League champion Soufiane El Bakkali from Morocco finished first with timings of 8:09.84. It was 13 seconds short of his season-best timings of 7.56.68 at Rabat.
Getnet Wale of Ethiopia, the 2019 Diamond League Champion was second with timings of 8:12.27 and Wale’s compatriot Abrham Sime finished third with 8:16.82.

New Zealand’s George Beamish finished just ahead of Sable with his personal best of 8:17.63. The Indian earned his second top-five finish in the Diamond League after his finish at Rabat in last year saw him earn rank fifth. He concluded the event with then national record time of 8.12.48.

The Swiss meet was Sable’s second 3000 m steeplechase event of the year. Previously in Diamond League Rabat leg last month, he had clocked 8:17.18 to finish 10th.

Sable’s personal best of 8:11.20 is India’s national record in the men’s 3000 m steeplechase event. His fifth-place finish at Stockholm also gave him four qualification points.

Athletes are given points instead of medals for competing in each leg of Diamond League series. The top-eight athletes in each event at end of all legs earn qualification for Diamond League final, where they compete for a trophy.

The Stockholm meet was the seventh meet of the 2023 season of the Diamond League. The series will wrap up with a two-day final to be held at Eugene, USA from September 16-17.