Avinash Sable Height, Age, Family, Biography & More

Avinash Sable is an Indian track and field athlete who competes in the 3000m steeplechase event. He serves as Naib Subedar in the Indian Army. Avinash Sable won silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham with a clocked timing of 8:11.20 in the 3000m steeplechase category.

Wiki/Biography

Avinash Sable was born on Tuesday, 13 September 1994 (age 27 years; as of 2021) in Mandwa, Beed district, Maharashtra, India.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 7″

Weight (approx.): 60 kg

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Parents & Siblings

Avinash’s father’s name is Mukund Sable, who is a farmer. Her mother’s name is Vaishali Sable, a farmer.

Career

Military Career

After completing his twelfth grade, Avinash Sable was recruited into the Indian army, and he was part of the 5th Battalion of the Mahar Regiment. In 2013, he was posted at Siachen Glacier as havildar. In an interview, he talked about his experience in Siachen and said,

There was snow all around me. I had not seen snow before that, and there was nothing to do apart from your duty. There was no network in the area and I was the junior. So, I did not know what to do or whom to talk to.” ^[1]Scroll.in

In 2014, he got posted to Lalgarh Jattan as an infantryman, near the Pakistan border in Rajasthan, and in 2015, he was posted in Sikkim. Later, Avinash was promoted to the rank of Naib Subedar in the Indian Army.

Track and field

In 2015, while serving in the Indian Army, Avinash’s colleagues insisted him on participating in the cross-country races, conducted by the Indian Army. Initially, he competed in the athletic events conducted by the Indian Army. In an interview, talking about his participation in the Indian Army athletic events, Avinash said,

It was only in 2015 that I started running. The army has an athletics scouting programme and they picked me to be a cross country runner.”

Later, in June 2017, for the first time, Avinash competed as a steeplechaser in the 3000m steeplechase category at the Indian Federation Cup 2017 with a clocked timing of 9:06.42 in Patiala. In July 2021, he competed in the Tokyo Olympics and finished seventh with the timing of 8:18:12.

In September 2021, he competed in the Open National Athletics Championship, held in Bhubaneswar. In July 2022, Avinash participated in the World Athletics Championship in Oregon, and he finished eleventh with a clocked timing of 8:31.75.

Record(s)

• 2019: National record of 8:28.94 minutes in 3000m steeplechase category at Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship 2019 in Bhubaneswar, breaking the 37-year-old national record of 8:30, set by Gopal Sainiat in the Asian Championship 1981 in Tokyo

• 2020: National record of completing a half marathon with a clocked timing of 1:00:30sec at Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020, breaking the previous national record of 1:03:46 held by Kalidas Hirave from Maharashtra

• 2022: National record in 5000m with a timing of 13:25.65 at the Sound Running Track meet in San Juan Capistrano, breaking the 30-year-old national record of 13:29.70, set by Bahadur Prasad in 1992

• 2022: National record at Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 with a clocked timing of 8:11.20 in the 3000m steeplechase category

• 2023: First Indian to win gold in the 3000m steeplechase event at the Asian Games 2023; he completed the race in 8:19.50 seconds and broke the record of Iran’s Hossein Keyhani’s timing of 8:22.79 seconds which he completed in Asian Games 2018 ^[2]Mint

Medal(s)

Gold

• 2017: 57th National Open Athletics Championship 2017, Chennai

• 2018: Inter-Services meet 2018, Jalahalli, Bengaluru

• 2018: Indian Open Championship 2018, Bhubneshwar

• 2019: Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship 2019, Patiala

• 2019: 69th Inter-Services Athletics Championship 2019 at the Army Sports Institute, Pune

• 2020: Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2020, New Delhi
  

  Avinash Sable posing with his gold medal at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

• 2022: Indian Grand Prix-I Championship 2022, Patiala

• 2023: Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (3000m steeplechase)
  

  Avinash Sable after winning the gold medal at the 2023 Asian Games

Silver

• 2017: 67th Inter-Service Championship 2017, Jalahalli, Bengaluru

• 2019: IAAF World Athletics Championship 2019, Doha, Qatar

• 2019: 23rd Asian Athletics Championship, Doha
  

  Avinash Sable posing with his silver medal at the Asian Athletic Championship 2019 in Doha

• 2022: Commonwealth Games 2022, Birmingham, UK
  

  Avinash Sable posing with his silver medal at Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham

• 2023: Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (men’s 5000m)

Award

In 2020, Avinash was awarded the Sportsman of The Year Award in Athletics at the Sportstar Aces Awards 2020.

Facts/Trivia

• Avinash Sable is the first Non-Kenyan athlete to win a medal in the steeplechase category since 1994 in the Commonwealth Games. In an interview, talking about winning a medal at Commonwealth Games 2022, Avinash said,
  

  I wanted to prove it’s not just the Africans – Kenyans and Ethiopians who win in long-distance races. An Indian can win too,” ^[3]The Indian Express

  https://twitter.com/thefield_in/status/1556121044095623168

• In an interview, Avinash revealed that due to the lack of conveyance facilities in his village, he used to travel 12 km daily to reach his school from home. He said,
  

  School was six kilometers away from home. There was a road but there was no public transport. So I would run or walk all the way about 12 kilometers at the age of six.” ^[4]The Indian Express

• In January 2017, Avinash participated in the cross-country race in Hyderabad, conducted by the Indian Army. During the race, he was spotted by the army coach Amrish Kumar. Amrish advised him to train for steeplechase. But, Avinash was overweight by 20 kg, as he weighed around 76 kg. However, he managed to lose 20 kgs in three months under the guidance of his coach Amrish Kumar. In an interview, Amrish talked about how he trained Avinash to bring down his weight by 20 kg, and said,
  

  “We worked for eight months to bring his weight down and then slowly worked on his speed. He had strength and endurance as he is from a rural area. He was very good at cross-country and when I saw his jumps in training, we decided to move him to steeplechase.” ^[5]Scroll.in

  

  Avinash Sable with his coach, Amrish Kumar

• In 2018, Avinash joined the national camp, and he was trained by coach Nikolai Snesarev for the Asian Games 2018. However, after a few months, Sable went back to his army coach Amrish Kumar. Reportedly, it was the harsh training regimen of coach Nikolai, which made him come back to his army coach. ^[6]The Indian Express In an interview, Avinash talked about his coach Nikolai Snesarev and said,
  

  “Coach Snesarev is a very hard trainer. He would make me run a lot. He must have made me run some 150 kilometers every week,”

• In April 2018, Avinash suffered an ankle injury, and as a result, he was not able to participate in the Asian Games 2018.

• In 2019, Avinash broke the national record at the Federation Cup 2019 in Patiala, and he qualified for the World Athletics Championship 2019. He became the first Indian steeplechaser to qualify for the World Athletics Championship after Deena Ram in 1991.
  

  Avinash Sable at the IAAF World Championship 2019 in Doha

• In 2021, Avinash represented India at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and he became the first Indian steeplechaser to qualify for the Olympics in the 3000m steeplechase category since 1952.

• In an interview, Avinash talked about how mental health affected his performance at a World Championship. He added that he did not have any mental conditional coach due to which he later started meditating and practising yoga. This led him to perform so well at the 2023 Asian Games that he won two medals, a gold, and a silver. ^[7]Rediff Avinash Sable said,
  

  I was at the peak of my fitness during the World Championships. I thought I was capable of winning a medal but I did not know what happened to me. Since I am not being able to win a medal after training hard for two years, there is no harm looking for different training base and a new approach.”