Avinash Sable becomes first Indian man to qualify for 3000m steeplechase final at Olympics
Paris, Aug 5: 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 takes into account the timings of all the 15 finalists, Sable is fifth as the second heat qualifiers had the best timing. The Indian led in the first two laps but after that slowed down a bit running a more technical race with an eye to qualify for the final round. Even when he slowed down, he never was out of the leading pack which eventually remained the same.
Earlier, Kiran, who turned 24 on Monday, clocked 52.51 seconds which was well below her season's and personal best of 50.92 seconds.
World champion Marileidy Paulino of Dominica won the heat with a time of 49.42, followed by Aaliyah Butler (50.52) of USA and Susanne Gogl-Walli (50.67) of Austria.
Top three in each of the six heats advanced to semifinal. All the others -- except for DNS (Did Not Start), DNF (Did Not Finish) and DQ (Disqualified)-- moved to the repechage round to be held on Tuesday.
Pahal had made direct qualification to Paris Olympics after clocking her personal best of 50.92 seconds in the National Inter-State Championships in June,
A repechage round was introduced in Paris Olympics to all individual track events from 200m to 1500m, including the hurdles events. The new format replaced the earlier one where some athletes advanced to the semifinals through fastest times in addition to the top placings in the first round heats.
Instead, only the athletes in the top placings will get automatic qualification and all the remaining will get a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals by participating in repechage heats.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
