World Athletics Championships: Avinash Sable, male race walkers disappoint on first day

India's campaign in the World Athletics Championships got off to a poor start with star steeplechaser Avinash Sabnis failing to reach the final of the Men's 3000m Steeplechase competition and the male race walkers unable to finish in the top bracket in 20km race Walk in the morning session of the first day on Saturday. Woman long jumper Shaili Singh had a best jump of 6.40m in the preliminary round but that wasn't good enough for the final.

Sable, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist in Birmingham last year, finished a disappointing 7th in his heat and failed to advance to the final.

Sable, the national record holder in the event, could manage to finish the race in 8 minutes and 22,24 seconds, thus finishing seventh while the top-five qualified for the final.

In the 20km race walk, Vikash Singh was the best-placed Indian at 27th with a timing of 1 hour 21.58 minutes. With the start of the Men's 20km Race Walk delayed due to bad weather conditions in the morning, the Indians failed to excel, with Paramjeet Singh Bisht placed 35th overall in 1:21.02 while national champion Akashdeep Singh, who holds the record of 1:19.55 set in February this year, got the 47th and last placing with timing of 1:31.12.

Sable, who has trained abroad for the last few months, thanks to funding from the government, and was exempted from participating in domestic competitions, holds the national record of 8:11.20 that he set in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.

As he usually does, Sable tried to be in the front from the start as he was second behind Ethiopia's Getnet Wale at the 500m mark. But as the participants crossed the 1000m mark, Sable dropped to the 5th position. He moved up again to the 3rd position behind Simon Kiprop Koech of Kenya and Wale. He was still in contention for a place in the final as the runners crossed the 2500 mark, and placed fourth in 7:05.28 with Getnet Wale back in the lead.

The army soldier was in the fourth position with 200 metres to go for the finish line, placed 4th with a timing of 7:50.31. However, as the athletes crossed the finish line in Heat 1, Sable three runners got past Sable with Getnet Wale of Ethiopia, Daniel Arce of Spain and Kenya Simon Kirrop Koech finishing ahead of the Indian, who could manage a disappointing timing of 8:22.24, way below than his national record.

In the 20km race walk, Vikash Singh was the best-placed Indian at 27th with a timing of 1 hour 21.58 minutes. Paramjeet Singh Bisht placed 35th overall in 1:21.02 while national champion Akashdeep Singh, who holds the record of 1:19.55 set in February this year, got the 47th and last placing with a timing of 1:31.12.