Picture Credit: Twitter
At the Sound Running Track Festival in Los Angeles on Sunday, long-distance runner Avinash Sable set a new national record in the men's 5000m. The long distance runner shattered his own record of 13:25.65 which he had set in California last year by finishing the distance in 13:19.30 this time. He broke the record by a time gap of 6 seconds, 35 milliseconds. Interestingly, he broke the record exactly one year after he set it, i.e on May 6. The previous record was held by Bahadur Prasad which he set in 1965.
Among the other Indians competing at the Sound Running Track Festival, Shankar Lal Swami ran his 2023 season-opener in the men's 3000m steeplechase category and clocked 8:42.92. Ajay Kumar, on the other hand, ran the 1500m in a personal best time of 3:39.89.
At the same competition, Parul Chaudhary ran the women's 5000m race in a time of 15:10.35, breaking the previous record. Preeja Sreedharan established the previous benchmark at the 2010 Asian Games, clocking in at 15:15.89. The previous record for Chaudhary in the 5000m race was 15:36.03, which she achieved at the Asian Athletics Championship in Doha in 2019.
Avinash Sable came into the spotlight when he set a new national record in 8:11:20, winning a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Additionally, it was the first time since 1994 that a competitor from a nation other than Kenya took home a medal in the men's 3000 m steeplechase at the Commonwealth Games. He was also awarded the Arjuna award for this remarkable achievement.
