Panchkula (Haryana), Paris Olympics star athlete Avinash Sable ran in 'training mode' but his modest pace was good enough to win gold in the men's 3,000m hurdles in the third and penultimate day of the National Interstate Championship here. on Saturday.
Sable, 29, who holds the national record of 8:11.20 in her favorite event and was representing Maharashtra, clocked a slow time of 8 minutes 31.75 seconds to win the race in wet conditions at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium .
"The Athletics Federation of India has made it mandatory for all athletes to participate in the National Interstate, so I ran the race as practice, just like in training (in the US). I wasn't thinking about timing "That's why I took it easy, there was no pressure," Sable later said.
"In a way, it was good to be able to run in a national competition after a long time," said the Asian Games gold medalist, who last ran a 3,000m steeplechase at a national event in March 2022.
Sable, who has been training in the U.S., has run only one 3,000-meter steeplechase this year, June 8 at the Portland Track Festival, and said it was a strategy laid out by him and his coach.
"We don't want too many events before the Olympics. So our plan was to run less and train more. I hope to start peaking only this month. I will participate in the Diamond League in Paris (in July 7) and then it will be in Europe before the Paris Olympic Games.
"I was able to implement some of my plans during today's race. The middle phase of the race was not a big problem, but the final kick is important. So I decided to see how today's race goes," said the Silver Medalist in the Commonwealth Games.
Sable has already qualified for the Olympic Games.
Madhya Pradesh's Sumit Kumar came a distant second with a time of 8:46.93, while Haryana's Shankar Swami was third in 8:47.05.
In the women's 3,000m hurdles, another Paris Olympic hopeful, Parul Chaudhary, easily won gold and like Sable, time was not her concern either. Parul clocked a modest 9:45.70 while her national record is 9:15.31.
"I was running for practice. I was told that Paris will be hot during the Olympics. So I thought it would be good to run here in these (warm and humid) conditions.
"The plan before the Olympics is to run less. I want to peak during the Olympics."
Sable was the center of attention, but the fiercest competition of the day was in the men's high jump final between national record holder Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi and Sarvesh Kushare of Maharashtra.
Kushare won the duel by clearing 2.25 m. Shankar could only jump 2.21 m.
Kushare attempted to surpass Shankar's national record of 2.29 m, but failed to clear the height. The Olympic qualification height is 2.33 m.
National record holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor, whose participation was initially in doubt due to ankle pain, won the men's shot put event with a best throw of 19.93 m. His national record stands at 21.77m.
National long jump record holder Jeswin Aldrin's struggles continued when he was defeated by Karnataka's Arya S, who cleared 7.78m to win gold.
Aldrin, who holds the national record of 8.42m, came second with 7.75m.
Sable, 29, who holds the national record of 8:11.20 in her favorite event and was representing Maharashtra, clocked a slow time of 8 minutes 31.75 seconds to win the race in wet conditions at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium .
"The Athletics Federation of India has made it mandatory for all athletes to participate in the National Interstate, so I ran the race as practice, just like in training (in the US). I wasn't thinking about timing "That's why I took it easy, there was no pressure," Sable later said.
"In a way, it was good to be able to run in a national competition after a long time," said the Asian Games gold medalist, who last ran a 3,000m steeplechase at a national event in March 2022.
Sable, who has been training in the U.S., has run only one 3,000-meter steeplechase this year, June 8 at the Portland Track Festival, and said it was a strategy laid out by him and his coach.
"We don't want too many events before the Olympics. So our plan was to run less and train more. I hope to start peaking only this month. I will participate in the Diamond League in Paris (in July 7) and then it will be in Europe before the Paris Olympic Games.
"I was able to implement some of my plans during today's race. The middle phase of the race was not a big problem, but the final kick is important. So I decided to see how today's race goes," said the Silver Medalist in the Commonwealth Games.
Sable has already qualified for the Olympic Games.
Madhya Pradesh's Sumit Kumar came a distant second with a time of 8:46.93, while Haryana's Shankar Swami was third in 8:47.05.
In the women's 3,000m hurdles, another Paris Olympic hopeful, Parul Chaudhary, easily won gold and like Sable, time was not her concern either. Parul clocked a modest 9:45.70 while her national record is 9:15.31.
"I was running for practice. I was told that Paris will be hot during the Olympics. So I thought it would be good to run here in these (warm and humid) conditions.
"The plan before the Olympics is to run less. I want to peak during the Olympics."
Sable was the center of attention, but the fiercest competition of the day was in the men's high jump final between national record holder Tejaswin Shankar of Delhi and Sarvesh Kushare of Maharashtra.
Kushare won the duel by clearing 2.25 m. Shankar could only jump 2.21 m.
Kushare attempted to surpass Shankar's national record of 2.29 m, but failed to clear the height. The Olympic qualification height is 2.33 m.
National record holder Tajinderpal Singh Toor, whose participation was initially in doubt due to ankle pain, won the men's shot put event with a best throw of 19.93 m. His national record stands at 21.77m.
National long jump record holder Jeswin Aldrin's struggles continued when he was defeated by Karnataka's Arya S, who cleared 7.78m to win gold.
Aldrin, who holds the national record of 8.42m, came second with 7.75m.
