Tokyo Olympics athletics: Avinash Sable sets national record, Dutee Chand bows out of 100m

India’s Avinash Sable produced another national record-breaking performance but it wasn’t enough to help him qualify for the men’s 3000m steeplechase final at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.

At the Olympic stadium, Avinash Sable clocked 8:18.12 to finish seventh in his heat, bettering his national record of 8:20.20 set at the Federation Cup in March. It was the sixth time he set a new national mark.

Abraham Kibiwott won the heat in 8:12.25 while Getnet Wale was second in 8:12.55. Italy’s Ahmed Abdelwahed came in third with 8:12.71, completing the three automatic qualifiers for the final. The top three from the three heats and the next six fastest qualifiers make the medal race.

In his debut Olympics, Avinash Sable’s time was 13th fastest overall among the 41 runners participating. His time was better than the top three runners in heat 3, who made the cut for the final. The Indian also briefly led his race.

The 26-year-old Indian steeplechaser has been in fine form this year. Avinash Sable started his season with a win at the Indian Grand Prix before setting a new national record at the Federation Cup.

Dutee Chand bows out of 100m

India’s sprint ace Dutee Chand could not progress to the semi-finals of the women's 100m.

Competing in the fifth heat, the 25-year-old Dutee Chand clocked 11.54 seconds to finish seventh out of eighth in her heats that featured the two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica.

Fraser-Pryce won the race in 10.85 seconds while Switzerland’s Ajla del Ponte was second in 10.91 seconds. Nzubechi Grace Nwokocha, the first Nigerian to qualify for the 100m at the Olympics, was third in 11.00 seconds.

The top three from each heat and the next three fastest make it to the 100m semi-finals. Dutee Chand, whose personal best is a national record time of 11.17s, finished 45th overall among the 54 runners across the heats.

Dutee Chand will next race in the women's 200m on Monday.

Earlier, MP Jabir too failed to make it to the next round of the men’s 400m hurdles at Tokyo 2020.

Hitting his strides in heat 5 alongside world No. 2 Rai Benjamin of the USA, son of former West Indies cricketer Winston Benjamin, MP Jabir clocked 50.77 seconds to finish seventh and last.

The quickest four in each heat and the next four fastest from all the heats combined advance to the semi-finals.

MP Jabir, whose personal best is 49.13s, finished 33rd overall among the 36 competing athletes.

4x400m mixed relay team fall short

Later in the day, the Indian mixed 4x400m relay team too failed to make the final.

Competing in the second heat alongside teams from Poland, Jamaica and Great Britain, the Indian quartet of Muhammed Anas, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan and Arokia Rajiv clocked 3:19.93 to finish last in their heat.

The below-par show not only meant that the Indian team failed to progress into the medal race but also finished 13th and last in the final standings.

Poland topped heat two with 3:10.44 while the Netherlands were second in 3:10.69. Jamaica came in third to take the final automatic slot for the final with a timing of 3:11.76.

Meanwhile, the USA mixed relay team of Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson and Bryce Deadmon were disqualified for violating the baton exchange rule in the opening heat.