Asian Games champion and two-time Olympian Avinash Sable was forced to pull out of the men’s 3000m steeplechase at the Monaco Diamond League 2025 after suffering a fall early in the race on Saturday.
The 30-year-old Indian athlete, competing at the Stade Louis II Stadium, was just over a minute into his run when he stumbled over the water jump after another competitor lost his footing ahead of him.
The incident forced Sable to pull up injured and limp off the track, resulting in a Did Not Finish (DNF). He was unable to put weight on his leg and had to be supported as he was helped away, before being taken to a local medical centre for further assessment. The extent of the injury is not known.
Two-time Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali (8:03:18s) of Morocco came in first at Meeting Herculis and Japan’s Ryuji Miura (8:03:43s) finished second. Edmund Serem of Kenya was third with a time of 08:04:00s.
This was Avinash Sable’s first event after winning the Asian steeplechase title in May and his third Diamond League meet of the 2025 athletics season. At the Xiamen Diamond League in April, Sable finished in 13th with a time of 8:22.59s.
Avinash Sable holds the Indian national record in the men’s 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:09.91, set at the 2024 Paris Diamond League.
In the overall Diamond League 2025 standings, Avinash Sable is currently 12th after the Monaco leg.
A total of five qualification meetings will be held in the men’s 3000m steeplechase event after which the top athletes will qualify for the season-ending Zurich Finals in Switzerland this August.
Monaco Diamond League 2025: Men’s 3000m steeplechase results
- Soufiane El Bakkali (ETH) – 8:03:18s
- Ryuji Miura (JPN) – 8:03:43s
- Edmund Serem (KEN) – 8:04:00s
- Salaheddine Ben Yazide (MAR) – 8:06.44
- Getnet Wale (ETH) – 8:07.57
- Samuel Firewu (ETH) – 8:08.03
- Karl Bebendorf (GER) – 8:08.21
- Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui (TUN) – 8:08.27
- Matthew Wilkinson (USA) – 8:10.23
- Daniel Arce (ESP) – 8:12.08
- James Corrigan (USA) – 8:14.76
- Abraham Kibiwot (KEN) – 8:14.81
- Djilali Bedrani (FRA) – 8:16.34
- Frederik Ruppert (GER) – 8:24.68
- Kenneth Rooks (USA) – 8:28.23
- Nicolas-Marie Daru (FRA) – 8:40.53
Meanwhile, Indian sprinter Animesh Kujur narrowly missed out on the podium in the pre-programme men’s 200m race in the men’s U23 category at the same venue.
Animesh Kujur clocked 20.55s. Rising star Gout Gout of Australia finished first with a time of 20.10s, while Busang Kebinatshipi of Botswana was second after clocking 20.28s. South Africa’s Naeem Jack finished third with a time of 20.42s.
Kujur holds the men’s 200m Indian national record of 20.32 seconds, which earned him a bronze medal at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, the Republic of Korea, earlier this year.
Earlier this week, Animesh Kujur added the men’s 100m national record to his name after finishing with a time of 10.18s in an athletics meet in Greece.
The Odisha-born runner was also a part of the national record-setting Indian men’s 4x100m quartet at a meet in Chandigarh in April.
Monaco Diamond League 2025: U23 200m results
- Gout Gout (AUS) – 20.10s
- Busang Kebinatshipi (BOT) – 20.28s
- Naeem Jack (SA) – 20.42s
- Animesh Kujur (IND) – 20.55s
- Louis Cantos (FRA) – 21.90s
- Karim Sfaxi (FRA) – 22.69s