Avinash Sable became the first Indian man to qualify for the 3000m steeplechase final after finishing fifth in his heat but quartermiler Kiran Pahal failed to book an automatic semi-final berth in women's 400m following a seventh place finish in her heat at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
Sable, easily the most decorated track and field athlete after Neeraj Chopra in the current contingent, timed 8:15.43 minutes to finish fifth in the second heat to make it to the final round.
As per rule, the top five athletes in each of the three heats qualify for the final.
However, Sable's heat timing was well below his best effort of 8:09.91 minutes, which he had clocked at the Paris Diamond League last month.
Sable's heat was won by Morocco's Mohamed Tindouft with a timing of 8:10.62 minutes, while Samuel Firewu of Ethiopia with 8:11.61 minutes came second. Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya (8:12.02 minutes) was third, while Ryuji Miura of Japan came fourth. He clocked 8:12.41 minutes.
In fact, if one
