After finishing outside the top ten runners from a 16-strong field in the men’s 3000 metres steeplechase final at the Olympic Games here last evening, India’s top long distance runner Avinash Sable said he had tried his best but could not understand the strategy of his competitors in the tactical race run in cool weather conditions at the imposing Stade de France.
“I need to accept whatever result has come. I tried to do my best. I didn’t understand the plan adapted by the others. I thought I was leading and the others who followed would set the pace, but suddenly the race slowed down and I didn’t understand that strategy.
“I thought someone would take up the lead but no one did. I too slowed down and was caught in the bunch and didn’t know how to get out. Even on the last lap I was hopeful of a medal,” said India’s best track medal hope Sable in the mixed zone after the race.
“My timing is fine. Our mindset is to look only at the time clocked. It was a tactical race. The slow race helped others, especially those who finished strongly. Even the US guy won a medal (silver). I thought whoever wins will do it in a fast time, but that didn’t happen. I can’t set the pace for the entire race.
The race was clinched by the tall Moroccan runner Soufiane El Bakkali, who retained his gold won in Tokyo in 2021, in a season’s best time of 8:06.05. Kenneth Rooks from US was a surprise silver medal winner in the Africans’ dominated discipline and came home in a personal best of 8:06.41. Kibiwot won the bronze in 8:06.47.
Sable, the 29-year-old army runner hailing from a farmers’ family in Beed district of Maharashtra, set the pace for the first one and a half laps of the race before falling behind and was 11th after the 2000m mark and ended up 11th in 8 minutes, 14.18 seconds which was better than his final qualification mark of 8:15.43 but off his own national record of 8:09.91 set exactly a month ago in this City of Light but on a different track.
He had finished sixth then in a race in which Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya, the bronze winner in yesterday’s race, had finished third.
Sable, who won the Asian Games gold in Hangzhou, China in 2022 soon after finishing with a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, also acknowledged the all-round support that he got to perform at this world level from various fronts including the government, SAI and others.
But he pointed out that it was wrong to assume by the common public that he and the others sent on government expense to train abroad were there on a holiday.
“I am thankful to the support received from all fronts. I feel sad that I couldn’t do better. See, I don’t enjoy going abroad and training and if anyone feels that we go out to enjoy at the government expense, he or she is sadly mistaken. I know how hard I had trained. No one wants to lose. We go out on our own, train and cook our own food, it’s not enjoyable.
“I trained in Colorado Springs, USA. No one enjoys leaving your home and it’s warm climate and training in minus degree temperatures. I thought there is altitude there, you can recover faster. I don’t think the fine facilities that we have in India are there overseas. In our SAI training centres, everything is available, the tracks are nearby. We get a proper diet.
“The only thing lacking is we don’t have the needed group to train for long distance running. I am forced to go overseas to get training partners. If my country wants me (to train overseas), I will have to do so. I am upset at the trolling on social media about us. The competition here is the world’s best, not the best from one state only. My request is, please support the country’s athletes. No one goes to the Olympics to lose.
He pointed out that the competition at the Olympics is vastly different from what the country’s athletes face at the Asian Games level.
“Olympics are different from the Asian Games. Some of us have got into a mentality that since we have won medals in the Asian Games we can do so here too. It will take time for us to win at this level.
“See our country’s javelin throw scenario after Neerraj Chopra’s great show (gold medal in Tokyo). It has spawned a lot of interest in javelin throw. It will take time to generate that kind of interest in long distance running too.
“Of course, we all will come to see and support Neeraj in the javelin throw final here (on August 8 evening). We all will root for Neeraj to repeat his gold winning effort here and that we all celebrate his victory.
Gold winner Moroccan Bahkali, incidentally, was injured and didn’t take part in other events in the run up to the Olympics.
“The only reason I didn’t compete in other competitions this year is because of my injury. I really wanted to take my time to be fully ready for the Olympics,” said an elated Bakkali who stormed to the finish line from behind the bunch.
“They had their plan to go ahead fast and my team and I were ready for their tactics and (their) plan to win, but we knew we would go for tactics or speed and I took my time at the beginning. in the last 2000 metres, I went really fast because that is my speciality,” he quipped.
The 28-year-old, a two-time world champion, also sounded a warning for the others by stating he will now train his guns on next year’s world championships in Tokyo and the next Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I have been a highly qualified athlete since 2016 and now my goal is to continue winning as much as I can, especially with the Tokyo 2025 world athletics championships coming up and LA 2028.”