Avinash Sable, who was the biggest name among Indian athletes participating in the Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, will not take part in the event after he flew to Morocco to train in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.
The 25-year-old Sable had registered to run the 21km half marathon in the city but has backed out after getting a green signal from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) for his training stint in Morocco.
“He had entered his name for the marathon but he has already left for Morocco,” Sable’s personal coach Amrish Kumar confirmed.
The 3000m steeplechase runner from Beed district in Maharashtra had sealed his berth at the 2020 Tokyo Games after bettering his own national record in the finals of the 2019 Doha World Athletics Championship held in October with a timing of 8:21.37.
But ever since Sable achieved that creditable feat, his training plans have been shrouded in controversies. The federation had initially planned to send him to Colorado Springs in the US for high altitude training but it was put on the backburner due to Sable’s language issues.
Army’s long-distance running coach Kumar—who was responsible in making Sable switch from cross country to steeplechase and under whom he broke the national record at the World Championships—had also devised his own training roadmap for his prodigy. However, the Morocco plan—which came through Sable’s sponsors JSW—finally got the nod from the federation and Sports Authority of India under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
{{/usCountry}}Army’s long-distance running coach Kumar—who was responsible in making Sable switch from cross country to steeplechase and under whom he broke the national record at the World Championships—had also devised his own training roadmap for his prodigy. However, the Morocco plan—which came through Sable’s sponsors JSW—finally got the nod from the federation and Sports Authority of India under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
{{/usCountry}}“I had sent them a plan to train Avinash in Ooty and Bhutan, but I guess they have their own set of plans,” Kumar said. “I hope it works for Avinash, because this is a really crucial time leading up to the Olympics.”