The national record holder competed in back-to-back highly competitive Diamond League meets to prepare for the 2025 Tokyo World Championships in September    

Avinash Sable competed in Xiamen Diamond League last week. Pic: AFI

Indian track and field followers will be looking forward to two-time Olympian and Commonwealth Games medallist Avinash Sable competing in back-to-back Diamond League meets.

The 30-year-old Army’s versatile distance runner will step on the track at Shaoxing Diamond League on Saturday. Sable, who hails from Maharashtra’s Beed district, has been churning out fast times and has improved his national record in the 3000m steeplechase several times in the past. Sable first broke the long standing national record in 2018. 

Sable started his 2025 competitive season with Xiamen Diamond League held early last week in China. He clocked a season best of 8:22.59 to finish 13th in a world class field. Sable’s Xiamen performance was slower than his personal best of 8:09.91 clocked last year at Paris Diamond League in France. He, however, wasn’t able to showcase his potential at the Paris Olympic Games.

On the basis of his 8:14.18 performance, he finished 11th in Paris. He has already qualified for the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships in September in Japan. Tokyo’s automatic qualification time for men’s 3000m steeplechase is 8:15.00. The Indian national record holder will be seen in action on Saturday at his second Diamond League in China.

“It will be interesting to see whether he is able to further improve his season’s best,” said a senior athletics coach.

At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Sable became the first Indian to win a medal, a silver with a timing of 8:11.20, in men’s 3000m steeplechase. The following year at the Hangzhou Asian Games held in China, he won gold in 3000m steeplechase and silver in men’s 5,000m track race.

Sable will also be seen in action in the May 27 to 31 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea.