As a memorable 2022 draws to end, ESPN India picks ten images that tell the story of the most extraordinary Indian sports moments witnessed over the year. In this seventh part, we write about Avinash Sable's stunning run to win the steeplechase silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
If you have a few minutes to spare, you must watch the replay of this extraordinary run from Avinash Sable. Sure, the result is known. Sable did the unthinkable by winning a Commonwealth Games silver in the men's 3000m steeplechase. But the race itself deserves multiple viewings just for the sheer audacity. How dare he break the Kenyan hegemony in the steeplechase? Then again, this is Sable and he's known to push boundaries and break records.
Logic suggested at best Sable will break the national record yet again in Birmingham and improve on his personal best. The three Kenyans -- Conseslus Kipruto, Abraham Kibiwot and Amos Serum -- all had better season and personal best timings than Sable. Plus, it has been the norm that Kenyan athletes sweep the steeplechase podium. Since the 1998 Commonwealth Games, Kenya have won all three medals in this event. That's a consecutive winning run of gold, silver and bronze across six Games and 24 years. Staggering, right?
Sable, who's also a soldier in the Indian Army, got off to a good start by the standards. He was fourth for most of the laps, behind the three Kenyans. At one point in the race, the English commentators were praising Sable for keeping pace with the runners ahead of him. However, this was in the context of Sable scripting his personal best and national record. The conversation had nothing about him winning a medal.
Just before the final lap, Sable overtook Kipruto and Serem. Surprise! But there was one full lap to go. Can he keep pace to finish on the podium? Half way into the final lap it was clear that Sable would finish in the top three with Kipruto way behind the front runners. With 200 metres to go, Sable almost overtook Kibiwot with the commentator uttering, "It's unthinkable, surely, that a Kenyan can be defeated."
As Sable approached the final turn, he pushed hard to overtake, exciting the crowd inside the stadium and those watching on TV around the globe. The last 20 metres were breathtaking but somehow Kibiwot found the speed to stay ahead and crossed the line ahead of Sable.
Sable finished just 0.05 seconds short of the gold medal and clocked a personal best of 8:11.20s while breaking the national record in the process for ninth time. Yes, he has broken the national record nine times!
The featured picture says it all. How close he came to take the gold away from a Kenyan runner, but there's no denying the fact that Sable ran a race of a lifetime to win the silver.