On world stage, Avinash Sable slow and unsteady again

But for someone who has gained experience by competing in Diamond League events and took a remarkable Commonwealth Games silver medal last year, the 28-year-old Indian ended up looking like a rookie on the final stretch even though he managed to stay in the top-5 for a majority of the race.

A new rule change introduced for this World Championships says the top 5 finishers in each of the heats will qualify for the final in races over 800 metres. So, like everyone else, Sable knew it was not about running all out. Other than for the brief few seconds when he took the lead, Sable didn’t really make a bold move. Perhaps, he was confident of holding onto his position, qualifying for Tuesday’s final and conserving his energy.

Whatever he had in mind didn’t work. When the pace of the race increased towards the end, Sable was found wanting.

Awkward landing

At the end of the first lap, he lost his footing briefly because the back of his heel was trampled on from behind but he held onto his third place.

Wale led the race at the start and was dictating the pace of the final but nobody was trying to push forward. Kenya’s Simon Kiprop Koech took the lead from Wale and the pace of the race slightly improved. Sable stayed in the top 3. Just after the two-kilometre mark, Sable surged ahead but within seconds immediately fell to fifth place.

The pace picked up in the final stretch and Sable’s hurdling cost him. He lost his balance ever so slightly when he landed after the third last hurdle and also landed awkwardly at the final water jump. The slight loss of momentum ended Sable’s attempt to launch the finishing kick.

When Sable cleared the third-last hurdle, Canada’s Jean-Simon Desgagnes surged past him into fifth place, and after the last water jump, Japan’s Ryoma Aoki, the Asian Athletic Championship gold medalist, sprinted past. By the time the last barrier was cleared Sable had faded out to seventh place.

Sable clocked 8:22.24. His personal best: 8:11.20 at last year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games. This season he has gone 8:11.63 at the Silesia Diamond League in July.

‘Tactical race’

Desgagnes talked about how he surged towards the end of the race. “I was prepared for any scenario. This was a slower race and I had to pick up the pace with the others in the end. It was a tactical race. I knew I could push. I had confidence in my body, in my legs and was ready to do it. Making the final was a big expectation and is a big accomplishment,” Desgagnes said.

The irony is that the top 5-finishers from the second heat all clocked slower timings but will go through. This included the World and Olympic Champion, Soufiane El Bakkali who ran a measured Heat 2 and finished second while USA’s Kenneth Rooks topped with the same timing of 8:23.66. World record holder Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia was the fastest of the qualifiers in the heats with a time of 8:15.89.

Budapest is the third time Sable is contesting in a World Championships but the first time he failed to make the final. He had finished 11th in the final in Eugene, USA, last year, and was 13th in Doha in 2019.

Heartbreak for Avinash Sable in Budapest. 💔 A tumble in the water sees the #TeamIIS athlete finish at seventh place in Heat 1 with a timing of 8:22.24, 2.55 seconds behind the leader. Chin up, Avinash! 🇮🇳#WACBudapest23 #Budapest23 #CraftingVictories pic.twitter.com/a3x6RbSFGc

— Inspire Institute of Sport (@IIS_Vijayanagar) August 19, 2023

In Eugene too, he had failed to read a tactical race. Last year, the tactics of the leading pack perhaps caught Sable by surprise. The man who has broken the national record multiple times seemed lost as to which gear to run in.

Like in Heat 1 in Budapest, that final in Eugene was a slow race. Back then if he had made a brave charge it would have been risky given the class of the runners ahead of him. On Saturday, he tried to dictate the pace by going into the lead but the tactic backfired.

Sable has been training in Colorado Springs since March and recently moved to St Moritz in Switzerland before travelling to Budapest.

This year Sable has competed in three Diamond League events, and he was fast enough in Silesia to qualify for the Paris Olympics. Though the Commonwealth Games silver was a memorable one, Sable will have to relook at his race strategy ahead of next year’s Summer Games if he hopes to make the final.

Shaili misses out

Before leaving for Budapest, Shaili Singh, India’s most promising woman long jumper had a clear target to achieve to reach the final in Budapest. Her coach Robert Bobby George felt 6.70 metres would suffice. But on Saturday, at her first World Championships Saili Siingh, 19, fell short.

She finished 14th out of 18 competitors in Group B with a best jump of 6.40 metres. She achieved her personal best of 6.76 metres in Bangalore in April this year and also won a silver at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok with 6,54 metres but in a quality field of some of the top jumpers, she was out of depth.

Tara Davis Woodhall with 6.87 metres topped the qualifying and seven other women jumped 6.70m-plus. Fatima Diame, the 12th and last-placed qualifier, made the cut with 6.61 metres. The Asian Games is Shaili’s big target this year. Asian Athletic Championship gold medalist Japan’s Sumire Hata too failed to qualify with 6.41 metres, way below her 6.97 at Bangkok.