CWG 2022: Priyanka Goswami and Avinash Sable grab silver in race walk and steeplechase; fans praise

India has won ten silvers in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with Priyanka Goswami winning in the women's 10,000 metres race walk, and Avinash Sable in the 3,000 metres steeplechase.

Indian track athlete Avinash Sable broke his national record to win a silver in the men's 3,000 metres steeplechase during the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 in Birmingham on Saturday. At the same time, Priyanka Goswami clinched a medal of the same hue in the women's 10,000 metres race walk in what has turned out to be a productive day for India in athletics. Goswami scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a medal in the race walk sport with a silver in the 10,000m event. With a couple of silvers, the Indian athletics team's medal count swelled to four and has gone past the number from the 2018 Gold Coast edition, where it had won a gold, silver and bronze each in track and field.

High jumper Tejswin Shankar and long jumper Murali Sreeshankar won bronze and silver in Birmingham. The 27-year-old Sable clocked 8:11.20 seconds to better his previous national record of 8:12.48a, finishing behind Abraham Kibiwot (8:11.15s) of Kenya. Another Kenyan, Amos Serem, bagged the bronze with a time of 8:16.83s.

Kibiwot had finished fifth in the World Championships in Eugene, USA, last month, with a time of 8:28.95s. In contrast, Sable had ended at a disappointing 11th, clocking 8:28.95s in the slowest ever 3,000m steeplechase in the showpiece's history. With the silver, Sable made amends for his disappointing implementation during the World Championships.

A farmer's son from Mandwa village in Maharashtra's Beed district, the Indian Armyman was happy to have beaten World Championships bronze medallist Kenya's Conseslus Kipruto, who finished sixth in Birmingham with a time of 8:34.96s. Sable, who has served at the Siachen Glaciers before taking to athletics, has recently been on a record-breaking national spree. He clocked 8:12.48s while finishing fifth at the prestigious Diamond League meet in Rabat last month.

Goswami clocked a personal best time of 43:38.83s to finish second behind Australia's Jemima Montag (42:34.30s). Kenya's Emily Wamusyi Ngii (43:50.86) took the bronze. The other Indian in the fray, Bhawna Jat, finished eighth, with a personal best timing of 47:14.13s. Harminder Singh was the first Indian to win a race walk medal -- a bronze -- in the 20km event during the 2010 Delhi CWG.

"This is the first Commonwealth Games medal in walking for an Indian woman, so I'm pleased to have created a piece of history. I wasn't thinking about the Australian [gold medallist Jemima Montag]. Looking at what we did at the Olympics in Tokyo and the world championships last month, she is a better walker than me. I just concentrated on my race and hope to close the gap on her step-by-step," said Goswami after her silver.

On being asked about the mascots and fingernails she was having, Priyanka said, "I have a Lord Krishna, and I take him with me to every competition, and he brought me luck today. I have also painted my nails with the flags of the country where I compete, so I have England for the Commonwealth Games and Japan for the Olympics. [Also], Spain because I raced there and some other flags."

(With inputs from PTI)