Birmingham, Aug 6: Avinash Sable became India’s first male athlete to win a long distance medal in the Commonwealth Games with a silver in the 3000m steeplechase and Priyanka Goswami also achieved a first while finishing on podium in a race walk event here on Saturday.
Sable broke his own national record on way to his silver while Goswami too clinched a medal of same colour in the women’s 10,000m race walk event on a productive day for India in the athletics competition.
Before Sable, Kavita Raut had won a long distance medal in CWG — a bronze in the women’s 10,000m race in the 2010 Delhi Games.
With the two silver, the Indian athletics team’s medal count swelled to four, more than the number in 2018 Gold Coast where the country had won a gold, silver and bronze each in track and field.
High jumper Tejswin Shankar and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar had won a bronze and silver respectively in Birmingham.
Sable clocked 8:11.20s to better his earlier national record of 8:12.48 and finish behind Kenyan Abraham Kibiwot (8:11.15). Another Kenyan Amos Serem took the bronze medal with a time of 8:16.83. (PTI)
