Avinash Sable to compete in Stockholm Diamond League 3000m steeplechase

India’s top 3000m steeplechase runner Avinash Sable will compete in his second Diamond League of the season at the Stockholm leg on Sunday, where he would look to better his own performance from last event.
The 28-year-old Sable had finished 10th, clocking a below-par 8:17.18 seconds, at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, Morocco on May 28 in his only 3000m steeplechase race of the year so far. He would be aiming to improve his timing here.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medall Sable, who has been training abroad to prepare for the August 19 to 27 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, has clocked a personal best time of 8:11.20, which is also the national record.
Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco will be targeting more Diamond League success following his win on home turf in Rabat with the season’s second best time of 7:56.68.
Other medal contenders could be 2019 Diamond League champion Getnet Wale of Ethiopia, the third best this season with a time of 8:05.15, and 2022 Commonwealth Games champion Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya (SB: 8:05.51), who had finished third in Rabat Diamond League.
Sable was given exemption from taking part in the National Inter-State Championships in Bhubaneswar last month to prepare for the World Championships.
He was also not named in the Indian team for the Asian Championships (July 12-16) in Thailand. He will train in Switzerland in August before the World Championships.