India’s ace athlete Avinash Sable, 28, once again bettered his earlier performance and broke his own national record by completing the 5,000m race in 13:19.30sec at the Sound Running On Track Fest in Los Angeles on Sunday. He finished 12th in the competition. India’s Parul Chaudhary, who finished 10th, also broke a 13-year-old national record in the women’s 5,000m by clocking 15:10.35sec in the same competition. 

Sable’s coach Amrish Kumar is not surprised with the result and reckoned that it will increase Sable’s Paris Olympics medal hopes in the 3,000m steeplechase next year. “The way Avinash fought in this 5000m race is really praiseworthy. What a race it was! Maja aaya [I enjoyed it] while watching the race on YouTube. He has that firepower and hunger to do something different than the other people, and that’s made him a special athlete than others” Amrish told mid-day from Shamli in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.