National Athletics Championships: Avinash Breaks 37-Yr-Old Record In Steeplechase

Bhubaneswar: On the closing day of 58th Open National Athletics Championships, Avinash Sable shattered the 37-year-old record in men’s 3000m steeplechase at Kalinga Stadium here on Friday.

Representing Services, Sable clocked 8:29.80 seconds going past the old mark of 8:30.88 seconds by Gopal Saini in Tokyo in 1981. Sable remained far ahead from the rest on the field.

The 24-year-old beat out Services teammate Rakesh Kumar Swami who clocked 8:47.31 seconds. Making it an all Services podium was Durga Bahadur Budha, who finished the race in 8:48.29 seconds.

Services sprinter Sanjit was another star performer at the championship. He added 200m title to the 100m gold won earlier by clocking 21.30 seconds to finish well clear of Punjab’s Gurlal Singh. He clocked a time of 21.66 seconds. K Ashok of Services finished third with an identical time of 21.66 seconds.He lost out on a silver by virtue of a photo finish.

Meanwhile, Asian Games medalists Arpinder Singh and Dharun Ayyasamy lived up to their reputations at the competitions, winning their respective events. Singh who had become the first Indian triple jumper to claim a gold medal at the Asian Games when he
won this event in Jakarta and then a bronze medal at the Continental Cup earlier this month added the Open national gold to his kitty.

Arivu Selvam of Services and Navjot Singh of Punjab jumped 16.22m and 16.06m respectively bagging silver and bronze.

Asian Games silver medalist Dharun Ayyasamy also lived up to his reputation at the 58th edition of the championships, setting a new meet record on the way to win a gold medal in the men’s 400m hurdles event.

ONGC athlete Ayyasamy clocked 49.67 seconds to erase the old mark of 50.16 seconds
set by Santhosh Kumar at the 2017 edition of the tournament.

The women’s 400m hurdles was won by Railways athlete Anju Rani, who clocked 57.63 seconds. She was followed closely by another Railways athlete Arpitha, at 58.34 seconds. Punjab’s Veerpal Kaur took the third step of the podium with a time of 58.36 seconds.

In the absence of star thrower Neeraj Kumar, the gold medal in the men’s javelin throw went at a relatively short distance of 76.42m. That throw was recorded by Abhishek Singh of Services. Uttar Pradesh’s Vipin Kasana took silver with a best throw of 76.05m while Sahil Silwal came third with a throw of 75.38 m.