India’s Avinash Sable broke his own national record for the second time in three days and qualified for Tokyo Olympics in men’s 3,000m steeplechase event.
According to reports, Avinash finished 13th in the final race of the World Championships on Friday and finished the race in 8 minutes 21.37 seconds which breached the Olympics qualifying standard of 8:22.00.
Reports mention that after the Athletics Federation of India successfully protested that Avinash was obstructed by other athletes during the heat race, he was included in the 3000m steeplechase finalists.
India’s protest was accepted under Rule 163.2 (Obstruction) after the referees saw two video footages and agreed that Avinash was severely obstructed on two occasions.
Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto defended his 2017 title with a time of 8:01.35 and took the gold medal. Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia finished the race by (8:01.36) and Soufiane Bakkali of Morocco finished by (8:03.76) and consequently, took the silver and bronze medals respectively.