BENGALURU: One of India's main hopes Avinash Sable faded away in the last 200 metres to crash out of the men's 3000m steeplechase after finishing seventh in Heat 1 on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships in Budapest on Saturday.
The Commonwealth Games silver medallist did everything right in the slow-paced race but lost steam after the last bend, clocking over 16 seconds in his last two 100m splits, even as Japan's Ryoma Aoki did a sub-14 in the final 100m to bag the fifth and last automatic berth in the final scheduled for Tuesday.
Ethiopian Getnet Wale won in 8:19.99s while Aoki timed his season's best of 8:20.54s.
Sable — who came into the Worlds after training in the USA and Switzerland and with a season's best time of 8.11.63s — was second at the 500m mark, fifth at 1K, sixth at 1.5K, third at 2K and sixth at the bell. He was fourth with 200m to go and then disaster struck. The Armyman clocked 8:22.24s, nearly 11 seconds slower than his season's best, a repeat of which would have even helped him win the race. His personal best is 8:11.20 clocked at the CWG last year.
This was the first event after World Athletics announced that the top-5 from each of the three heats would enter the final, thus removing the qualification route for fastest losers. “A last lap of 61-plus is decent by Sable's standards,” a top middle distance coach told TOI. “Though he lost out, Sable has clocked a good time compared to the pace of the race. It looks like he got his strategy wrong. Had it been the old rule, he would have qualified as he is 14th based on the times.”
Olympic and defending champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco and world record holder Girma Lamecha of Ethiopia advanced from their respective heats to set the stage for a mouthwatering battle. El Bakkali finished second in Heat 2 in 8:23.66s while Girma won Heat 3 in 8:15.89s.
