Paris, India's top 3,000m steeplechase runner Avinash Sable and javelin thrower Kishore Jena hope to fine-tune their preparations for the Olympics at the Paris leg of the prestigious Diamond League one-day meeting series on Sunday.
Reigning Olympic and world javelin champion Neeraj Chopra has opted out of the Paris injury list, apparently due to an adductor problem that has been troubling him for the past few months.
Both Sable and Jena have not been in the best shape and have not competed in too many events before the Paris Games, but they would look to acclimatize to the conditions of the city that will host the Olympic Games.
Athletics competitions at the Olympic Games begin on August 1.
Sable, 29, has competed in just two 3,000m steeplechase events, one at the Portland Track Festival in the US, where he has been training, and the other at the National Interstate Championships in Panchkula, Haryana, the last week.
He clocked 8:21.85 in Portland and 8:31.75 in Panchkula, while his personal best is 8:11.20.
After winning gold at the National Interstate Championships, Sable had promised to make up for the mistakes he made in recent years and put on a memorable show at the Paris Olympics with a different approach.
"I made mistakes in the last two years. I had been in good form in the two world championships (2022 and 2023), but I couldn't do well in both. I want to make amends, I hope these Olympics will be the best." said the reigning Asian Games gold medalist.
On Sunday he will face Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot, bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championships and gold winner at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Sable won a silver.
Another Kenyan, Simon Kiprop Koech, the 2023 Diamond League champion, will also be one of three contenders in the top three on Sunday in the absence of reigning Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia.
In five Diamond League appearances so far in his career, Sable's best performance has been a fifth-place finish.
Jena has also had a season to forget so far with efforts of 76.31m in the Doha Diamond League and 75.49m in the Federation Cup before a throw of 80.84m to win a bronze at the National Interstate Championships.
She has a personal best of 87.54 m, which she achieved by winning a silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
Jena, who will compete in his second Diamond League on Sunday after Doha, had revealed that he was dealing with mild pain in his left ankle, which he felt after the Federation Cup (May 15-19) in Bhubaneswar.
"The pain has subsided and almost everything is fine now," he said in Panchkula last week.
He will face the likes of Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and 2023 Diamond League champion Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and current Commonwealth Games medalist and 2023 World Championship silver winner, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
Reigning Olympic and world javelin champion Neeraj Chopra has opted out of the Paris injury list, apparently due to an adductor problem that has been troubling him for the past few months.
Both Sable and Jena have not been in the best shape and have not competed in too many events before the Paris Games, but they would look to acclimatize to the conditions of the city that will host the Olympic Games.
Athletics competitions at the Olympic Games begin on August 1.
Sable, 29, has competed in just two 3,000m steeplechase events, one at the Portland Track Festival in the US, where he has been training, and the other at the National Interstate Championships in Panchkula, Haryana, the last week.
He clocked 8:21.85 in Portland and 8:31.75 in Panchkula, while his personal best is 8:11.20.
After winning gold at the National Interstate Championships, Sable had promised to make up for the mistakes he made in recent years and put on a memorable show at the Paris Olympics with a different approach.
"I made mistakes in the last two years. I had been in good form in the two world championships (2022 and 2023), but I couldn't do well in both. I want to make amends, I hope these Olympics will be the best." said the reigning Asian Games gold medalist.
On Sunday he will face Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot, bronze medalist at the 2023 World Championships and gold winner at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, where Sable won a silver.
Another Kenyan, Simon Kiprop Koech, the 2023 Diamond League champion, will also be one of three contenders in the top three on Sunday in the absence of reigning Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia.
In five Diamond League appearances so far in his career, Sable's best performance has been a fifth-place finish.
Jena has also had a season to forget so far with efforts of 76.31m in the Doha Diamond League and 75.49m in the Federation Cup before a throw of 80.84m to win a bronze at the National Interstate Championships.
She has a personal best of 87.54 m, which she achieved by winning a silver at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
Jena, who will compete in his second Diamond League on Sunday after Doha, had revealed that he was dealing with mild pain in his left ankle, which he felt after the Federation Cup (May 15-19) in Bhubaneswar.
"The pain has subsided and almost everything is fine now," he said in Panchkula last week.
He will face the likes of Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and 2023 Diamond League champion Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic, former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada and current Commonwealth Games medalist and 2023 World Championship silver winner, Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
