Avinash Sable. File.
| Photo Credit: Mahinsha S
Long-distance runner Avinash Sable is among five Indian athletes in the entry list for the World Cross Country Championships to be held in Bathurst, Australia on February 18.
Besides Sable, the 3000m steeplechase silver medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the other men’s entry in the 215-runner list from 47 countries is 32-year-old Anand Singh, who finished second in the Indian Cross Country Championships held in Assam last month, clocking 30 minutes and 34 seconds in the 10km event.
In the women’s section, 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist in 5000m Parul Chaudhary, Sanjivani Jadhav and Chhavi Yadav figure in the list of 102 athletes from 31 countries.
Parul had a remarkable last year where she reigned supreme in the country in the 3000m steeplechase event, winning two Indian Grand Prix gold, and clinching top positions in the National Open Championships and the National Inter State Senior Championships.
She also finished a creditable 12 at the World Championships in Oregon.
However, there will be a lot of hope from Sable, who took up running only in 2015 and has so far reset the national record in 3000m steeplechase nine times — the latest being at the 2022 CWG.
The 28-year-old athlete also hold the national 5,000m and half-marathon records.