Paris 2024: Protecting the country from cold Siachen to hot Rajasthan, now today's 'Paan Singh Tomar' will hoist the tricolor in the Olympics
In any sport, there are some players who win many trophies, titles and make world records, while there are some who do not win many titles or medals but keep improving and their performance remains consistent despite the presence of legends. Avinash Sable is one such athlete.
Avinash Sable will present India's claim in steeplechase.Image Credit source: Noushad Thekkayil/NurPhoto via Getty Images
You must have seen the movie Paan Singh Tomar! Irrfan Khan played the lead role in this movie, who was taking revenge as a 'rebel' in a village in Madhya Pradesh. Before becoming a rebel and picking up the gun, Paan Singh Tomar used to pick up a gun while serving in the Indian Army, where he had gone to serve the country. But even while being in the army, he never needed to pick up a gun and go to any front because he was making a name for himself on the racing track with his speed and fighting spirit. Just like the army subedar Paan Singh Tomar, even today a soldier is raising the flag of India on the racing track. We are talking about his similarity with Paan Singh Tomar because he also represents the country in the 3000 meter steeple chase race. This Paan Singh Tomar of today's India is Avinash Sable from Maharashtra, who will represent the country in the Paris Olympics.
There are many parameters of success of a player or team. How many titles or medals have been won, how many matches have been won, how many records have been made? Apart from these, there is another parameter - consistency. For how long can a player or team maintain their performance better than others and how much can they improve it. On this front, while there is talk of legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in cricket, Neeraj Chopra has proved it in javelin throw in the last few years. Sable also does something similar, who has performed brilliantly in medium distance race.
From the cold of Siachen to the heat of Rajasthan
Born in a poor farmer family in Beed district of Maharashtra, the foundation of Sable becoming a long distance runner was laid at a young age. The reason was that the school was about 6 km away from his house and he often used to go to school by running or walking. Sable completed his schooling and after 12th, he directly joined the Indian Army. Even after this, he did not get immediate entry into athletics, rather he had to go to the most difficult areas and take charge. Initially, he was posted in Siachen, the world's highest and coldest military post, after which he was posted in the scorching heat of western Rajasthan. After this, he slowly started athletics and from here he never looked back.
National record broken for the 10th time
If we look at Sable's career so far, one of his biggest achievements is breaking national records continuously. It started with the National Open Championship in 2018, when Sable broke Gopal Saini's 37-year-old national record. Sable then completed the 3000 meter steeplechase race in 8:29.80 minutes and set a new national record. Since then, Sable has broken his own record in every major race and set new records in steeplechase. Just before the Paris Olympics, Sable set a new national record with a time of 8:09.94 minutes in the Diamond League held in Paris. Overall, since 2018, Sable has maintained his dominance in steeplechase by breaking his own record for the 10th time. The performance in the Diamond League has raised hopes that he will perform better in the Olympics as well.
28 years of reign ends
Sable will participate in the Olympics for the second time. Earlier, he made his debut in the Tokyo Olympics and, as expected, he could not even qualify for the finals. Still, he finished seventh in his heat full of veterans and set a new national record. At that time, Sable was the fastest among the racers who did not qualify for the finals. The first big medal of Sable's career came in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, when he surprised the whole world by winning the silver medal. For the first time since 1994, a player from a country other than Kenya won a medal in the Commonwealth Games. Sable then won the gold medal in the Asian Games, while also winning the silver in the 5000 meters in the same games. Sable was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2022.