National record holder in the 3000m steeplechase, Avinash Sable, finished ninth in the season-ending Diamond League final on Friday with a time below his usual standards.
Sable, who celebrated his 30th birthday on the same day, clocked 8 minutes and 17.09 seconds in the 10-man race, marking his debut in the Diamond League final.
Kenya’s Amos Serem claimed the Diamond League title with a time of 8:06.90, while Morocco’s reigning Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali finished second with 8:08.60. Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui of Tunisia took third place, clocking 8:09.68.
Meanwhile, world champion and Paris Olympics silver medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is set to compete on Saturday.
Sable had earlier finished 11th at the Paris Olympics with a time of 8:14.18.
Ranked 14th in the overall Diamond League standings with three points from two meets, Sable managed to qualify for the top 10 final after higher-ranked athletes, including Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma (injured), New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, Japan’s Ryuji Mura, and the USA’s Hillary Bor, withdrew.
Five out of the 14 Diamond League meets this season featured the men’s 3000m steeplechase event. Sable, the reigning Asian Games champion, had set a national record of 8:09.91 while finishing sixth in the Paris leg on July 7, improving his own previous best. He later placed 14th in the Silesia leg with a time of 8:29.96 on August 25.
Each Diamond League season finale winner receives a ‘Diamond Trophy,’ a cash prize of USD 30,000, and a wild card entry to the World Athletics Championships.
