High jumper Murali Sreeshankar created his own piece of history after he became the first Indian male long jumper to qualify for the World Athletics Championships finals. In the 3000m steeplechase, Avinash Sable will also vie for a medal after qualifying directly for the finals for a second consecutive time. Sable finished third in heat number 3, clocking 8:18.75 to qualify for the finals that will be held on Monday (early morning Tuesday in India).
Sreeshankar, who was a dark horse for a medal entering the championships, had a best jump of exactly 8m to finish second in qualification round Group B and seventh overall. However, he couldn't touch the automatic qualifying mark of 8.15m but made it to the finals as one of the 12 best performers.
Two other Indians Jeswin Aldrin and Muhammed Anees Yahiya failed to make it to the final round after finishing ninth and 11th in the Group A qualification round with the best jumps of 7.79m and 7.73m respectively.
Anju Bobby George was the first Indian to make it to the World Championships long jump finals and the first to win a medal — bronze in the 2003 edition in Paris.
Those who achieved 8.15m or the 12 best performers from across the two groups qualify for the finals to be held on Sunday (Monday, 6:50 am IST).
Meanwhile, Sable qualified for the 3000m steeplechase final for a second straight time, having done the same during the 2019 edition as well. He led till around midway through the race before Ethiopia's Hailemariyam Amare (8:18.34) and Evan Jager (8:18.44) of the USA overtook him.
The top three in each heat and the next six fastest runners across the three heats qualify for the final.
Tajinderpal Singh Toor pulls out, poor show by walkers Priyanka Goswami, Sandeep Kumar
Asian record holder shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, pulled out of his event after sustaining a groin injury four days after reaching the USA. He tried a couple of practice throws before the event but decided to skip as the pain did not subside.
And in the men's and women's 20km race walk events, it was disappointment for national record holders Sandeep Kumar and Priyanka Goswami, who were well below their best.
Goswami, who opened India's campaign in the championships, finished 34th out of 36 athletes, clocking 1:39:42.
Peru's Kimberly Garcia Leon (1:26:58) won the gold while Katarzyna Zdzieblo (1:27:31) of Poland and Shijie Qieyang (1:27:56) of China took silver and bronze respectively.
36-year-old Kumar was even worse at 40th place of 43 athletes who finished the race, clocking 1:31:58. Japan's Toshikazu Yamanishi (1:19:07) and Koki Ikeda (1:19:14) took the gold and silver respectively while Perseus Karlstrom (1:19:18) of Sweden won the bronze.
