I have fitness level of 2022, can repeat performance in Asian Games: Avinash Sable

Since July 2025, Avinash Sable and his dream to retain the Asian Games 3000m steeplechase gold were living in different houses. Delicate fitness following a surgery to repair Sable’s torn ACL and meniscus was the biggest impediment in their reunion, forcing him to even skip the recent Commonwealth Games.

Instead, he trained at a high-altitude facility in Ooty, then went to Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) in Bellary, Karnataka, before turning up at Sports Authority of India (Southern Centre) here for sessions in the Smart Track. The sum total of that nearly eight months of intense training is the belief in Sable’s mind: “I went to the Asian Games in 2022. I have the same level of fitness now. I can repeat my performance in this Asian Games (2026 in Japan),” he said.

“There are 24 days left for my event in the Asian Games. My preparation is very good. I had a lot of ups and downs in my preparation after that injury (during the Monaco Diamond League in 2025).

“After that, I have done continuous training and it’s a good preparation. I am confident that I can do well in the upcoming Asian Games. I feel that my old fitness has come back,” he added.

But since recovering from that debilitating injury, Sable has participated in only one competition - the IFAM outdoor World Athletics Continental Tour in Oordegem, Belgium. There is a caveat too. He did not compete in his pet 3000m steeplechase event but took part in the 5000m race, in which his participation in this edition of the continental event is still doubtful.

Sable did not view it as a deterrent.

“I had an injury when the competition season started. I had planned to participate in the competition in May but could not recover in time. Training and competition are two different things.

“I feel that it is very important to participate in the competition. I felt bad that I could not participate in CWG (2026) because of that injury. My fitness was not good at that time. But I wanted to participate in Asian Games.”