Hima Das, India’s star athlete, has been on a streak! Nicknamed the ‘Dhing Express’, she is a sprint runner from the state of Assam. She is also the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships. Hima Das has always kept India’s flag flying high. In September 2018, she was even conferred with Arjuna Award by the President of India.
Recently, the ace sprinter won her fourth international gold within 15 days after she bagged the top rank in the 200m race at the Tabor Athletics Meet in Czech Republic. On Wednesday, Hima clocked 23.25 seconds and seized her gold medal.
This was Hima’s fourth gold since July 2 when she ran her first competitive race in Europe. She took to Twitter to write a celebratory tweet after her victory, “Won another gold today in 200m and improved my timings to 23.25s at Tabor GP.”
In her first competitive 200 m race of the year on July 2, Hima clocked 23.65 seconds to win gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix, also in Poland. Then on July 8, she won her second 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet in Poland. Despite sustaining a serious back injury, the Assam sprinter clocked 23.97 seconds to win the gold while her compatriot and Kerala runner V.K. Vismaya grabbed silver with a timing of 24.06 seconds. On July 13, Hima won her third 200m gold at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic, clocking 23.43 seconds.
Daughter of a farmer, Hima Das comes from Dhing, a small, obscure village about 30km from Nagaon in Assam. Her mother hadn’t even heard about the Commonwealth Games till Hima’s participation. It was enough for her to watch her daughter on TV. That’s all that mattered.
Also Read: Amazing Things You Did Not Know About 18-Year-Old Athlete Hima Das!
Hima Das was appointed as India’s first ever youth ambassador of UNICEF on 14 November 2018. She initially wanted to pursue a career in football, but wasn’t able to because of the lack of prospects for women in the sport. She later chose to become a sprint runner after consulting a teacher at school.
Hima’s pet event is 400m and she is yet to qualify for the World Championships in both the quarter-mile event and the 200m. The World Championships qualifying time for 200 m is 23.02 while it is 51.80 in 400 m.
Sprint away to glory, Hima! We couldn’t be more proud!
Featured Image: Instagram
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