India’s steeplechase champ insists he won’t be a mere participant at Paris Games, but will finish on podium
Avinash Sable en route to winning the steeplechase gold at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Pic/Getty Images
India’s top 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable does not want to be just a participant at the Olympics and believes he can a win a medal this time at the Paris Games.
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Sable, 29, who recently broke his own national record, will be competing in his second Olympics. He had failed to make it to the finals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
“I don’t want to just participate, I believe I can win a medal. I’m working hard with my eyes set on that goal, if everything falls into place I win a medal,” Sable said when asked about the upcoming Paris Olympics.
“I used to think Olympic medallists had a unique and difficult approach to training, but my experiences over the past two years have boosted my confidence,” he said in a JioCinema release.
Sable had clocked 8 minutes and 9.91 seconds to break his earlier national record while finishing sixth at the Paris Diamond League earlier this month. At the Paris Olympics, he will face at least seven competitors who have run at a better time than him this year. But Sable is only focussing on himself. “I’ve been taught to focus on my own progress rather than that of others. My competition is with my timing. This mindset has allowed me to break the national record 10 times,” said the reigning Asian Games gold medallist.
Sable said that his 2002 CWG silver medal-winning run was a confidence-booster. “My aim at was to compete with the Kenyans. Finishing second gave me the confidence that I can compete against the best,” added Sable, who broke Kenya’s medal monopoly in the steeplechase at the CWG.
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