Paris Olympics: Why Avinash Sable started fast and slowed down in end to qualify for steeplechase final: ‘Wanted to avoid scramble’

Like he does before most competitions, Avinash Sable called his younger brother Yogesh the night before his big race. Only this time, he ended with an assurance: Of running Monday’s race on his own terms. “I didn’t want to make mistakes I have made in the past,” Avinash Sable says.

The steeplechaser, who has historically fallen in the trap laid by others, did not want the rest of the field to dictate how he ran in the heats of the 3,000m run.

When the time came, he lived up to his promise. Avinash Sable punched the air as he looked behind to see if he was in the clear. Once sure he couldn’t be overtaken, he glided towards the finish in fifth place – enough to make him the first Indian to qualify for the final of the men’s race.

Avinash Mukund Sable, of India, competes in a men’s 3000 meters steeplechase round 1 heat at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France. (AP Photo)

Avinash Sable crossed the line in 8 minutes, 15.43 seconds – a lot slower than the national record he recently set at the Paris Diamond 8:09.91. But he considerably reduced down his pace in the final lap, allowing others to overtake him once he knew there was enough gap between him and the sixth-place runner. Only the top five from each of the three heats qualified for Wednesday’s medal round.

Far away from the glitz and the lights of Paris, at his home in Mandwa, Sable’s family gathered around a small screen. His parents don’t understand the nuances of the sport, nor do they care about the Olympics. “They have no knowledge about the race, my competitors or what I do,” Sable laughs. “But they watch me run.”

This time, they have planned to make the final a big event at their village by installing a giant screen and inviting the whole village to watch their ‘son’ who put the nondescript place on the world map.

There’s another incentive. “The home that wce have been building is now constructed,” Sable’s brother Yogesh says. “Now, we hope to gather everyone from the village here and once Avinash is back, he will open the doors for the first time.”

Constructed on one of the highest points of the terrains on which Mandwa is located, the mansion, far cry from a tiny tin-shed where Avinash Sable was born and grew up, offers an unobstructed, breathtaking view of the village: lush green slopes in the front where deer prance around and cattle graze, acres of family’s farmland to the left and right along with a water bund to ensure year-round supply.

“He has been so focussed to preparing for these Olympics that he didn’t even get to concentrate on his dream project. Since the Asian Games, he has stayed away from the family, and all other distractions so that he could make amends,” Yogesh says.

When he emerged from the tunnel on Monday, Avinash Sable says that for a fleeting few seconds, he got overwhelmed. “For someone from a rural area to be here, it felt special,” Avinash Sable says.

But this was no time for emotions. Avinash Sable says he came into the race with one objective: not to repeat the mistake he committed at the World Championships last year and the Tokyo Olympics. “There, I had a lot of energy at the start but I thought I’ll conserve it and began slowly. In doing so, I got involved in a scramble at the finish line,” he says. “Today, I wanted to avoid that.”

In a heats that comprised world number 3 Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya and world number 4 Samuel Firewu of Ethiopia, Avinash Sable set himself a target of running the race at a speed that would help him finish in the range of 8 minutes 15 seconds. “I wanted to run at my pace. The strategy was to not be slow in the first kilometre. That way, I could have avoided the fight to be in the top 5. Get clear of the field so that at the finish line, there wouldn’t be a fight for the fifth place,” he adds.

Avinash Sable, Kibiwot and Firewu separated from the rest of the pack in the opening lap itself. “I looked at the others, and told them ‘aage aa jao. Show me what you have planned’,” Avinash Sable says with a smile. “ They kept the pace that I found comfortable.”

At the 2km mark, he turned to see a bunch was getting close to him. So, instead of getting boxed in – an old habit that has cost him dear – he made a move from the outside and stepped on the peddle.

Only after the last water jump, he began to relax. “After that, I got confident that I’ll be in the top 5. I was happy I could execute my strategy, I made it quite easily,” he says. “Today, I took it a little easy in the last lap because I was saving myself for the final. There, I’ll use every ounce of my energy to run faster. I don’t think a podium finish is tough, mentally I am prepared to give it all.”

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