New Delhi: Steeplechaser Avinash Sable will participate in the Diamond League Final in Brussels after being named among the 12 participants for Friday’s event. He will be the second Indian after reigning world champion Neeraj Chopra who will compete in the competition.
The national record holder in 3000m will appear in the Diamond League Final for the first time after being eligible to take part in the elite event.
He claimed three points from two meets of the Diamond League to finish 14th in the overall standings of the competition. Four athletes – Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma, New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, Japan’s Ryuji Mura and USA’s Hillary Bor – were finished above him.
But since they aren’t participating in the finale, it allowed Sable a chance to compete in the season-ending event, which will be held across two days of September 13 and 14.
The men’s 3000m steeplechase event was held in five of the 14 meets of the Diamond League series that is held throughout the year.
Sable’s 3000m men’s steeplechase event will be staged on September 13 while Chopra will be in action the following day in men’s javelin throw event.
In the Paris leg of the Diamond League, Sable bettered his own national record with a timing of 8:09.91 to finish sixth. The 29-year-old followed it up with a 14th place finish with a timing of 8:29.96 at the Silesia leg of the Diamond League.
At the Paris 2024 Sable, the first Indian to compete in men’s 3000m steeplechase category at Olympics, was 11th with a timing of 8:14.18 on August 7.
Eyes on Neeraj Chopra
In men’s javelin, Paris Olympics silver medallist Neeraj Chopra will be the one to watch out for, having qualified by finishing fourth in the final standings.
Chopra, the gold medallist at Tokyo Olympics, achieved two second-place finished in Doha and Lausanne legs of the competition to get 14 points and be eligible to compete for the Diamond Trophy, $30,000 cash award and a wild card entry at the World Athletics Championships.
The runner-up of the Diamond League Final will receive $12,000 while the eight-place finisher takes home $1000.
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