Rijiju congratulates Avinash Sable as he sets new national record in men's 3000m steeplechase

Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday congratulated athlete Avinash Sable for setting a new national record in the men's 3000m steeplechase event in the ongoing Federation Cup.

The 26-year-old Avinash recorded a timing of 8:20.20 and hence he ended up breaking his own record which he set in 2019.

Taking to Twitter, Rijiju wrote, "Congratulations to Avinash Sable for creating another national record! Avinash has already qualified for Tokyo Olympics. He set a new national record in men's 3000m steeplechase with timing of 8:20.20 at the Federation Cup in Patiala. He broke his own record of 8:21.37."

In October 2019, Sable had secured a berth in the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in men's 3000m steeplechase after finishing 13th in the final of the World Athletics Championships. The qualifying cut-off for the Olympics was 8:22.00 and Sable completed in 8:21.37, setting a new national record.

On Tuesday, Murali Sreeshankar had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the long-jump event after he set a national record in the ongoing Federation Cup.

The 21-year-old Sreeshankar set a national record after making a jump of 8.26 metres in his final attempt at the Federation Cup and as a result, he attained qualification for the Olympics.

( With inputs from ANI )