India’s Hima Das wins three international gold medals in a span of two weeks and we couldn’t be more proud of her
It was a moment of pride for Indians when the country’s star sprinter Hima Das won gold in 200m race at the prestigious Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland. This was Hima’s first 200m competitive race of the year. In the same week, she won another 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics. Yes, the week has been uniquely special for India and Her sprinting champion but that’s not it. Yesterday, she won another gold at the Kladno Memorial Athletics Meet in the Czech Republic. Is this lady magic or what?
After clocking her personal best of 23.10s last year, Hima couldn’t participate in the past few events due to her ongoing back problem. She performed so extraordinarily with a back problem? We can only wonder what she’d do once her back is healed. Nonetheless, this young champion never fails to make us proud of her!
Hailing from the Kandhulimari village of Assam, the ‘Dhing Express’ is the current national record holder in 400m race with a timing of 50.79 seconds which she clocked in 2018 at the Jakarta Asian Games. She is also the junior champion in the sprint race.
Hima is the youngest of five children born to Ronjit and Jonali Das, who are farmers by profession. Initially, Hima wanted to become a footballer but due to the limited prospects for females in the sport, she switched to sprinting.
In 2013, she got selected for the district trials, but unfortunately couldn’t produce her birth certificate, which got burned in the house fire, along with other documents. However, she didn’t let it get to her heart and started working even harder for future opportunities.
In 2014, she represented Nagaon but couldn’t make it still. However, in 2015, she competed in an inter-district tournament in Noeth-Central Assam, and won a bronze medal. This was the beginning of a marvelous sprinting career for Das. She also won a 100m bronze at the 2016-2017 Khelo India event. She came to be known as the girl who chases time after this victory.
After that, her list of achievements became countless. In 2018, she became the first athlete to win a gold medal on an international track during the IAAF World U20 Championships at Tampere, Finland. She clocked 51.46 seconds during the race. She also set new records during the 2018 Asian Games.
Hima’s achievements are not limited to the race track. Her popularity is such that she is currently the brand ambassador of sports. She was honored with the Arjuna Award by the President of India, Mr. Ramnath Kovind, in 2018 for her outstanding contribution in sports. She is also the first ever Youth Ambassador of UNICEF India.
Her two-gold-win at Poland and one at Czech Republic added another feather to her cap. However, she wasn’t the only Indian to have won a medal at the Grand Prix. Asian champion Toor won a bronze in the men’s shot put with a score of 19.62m. However, is best effort remains to be last year’s Asian Games gold at 20.75m.
V K Vismaya, another Indian competitor won another bronze, clocked at 23.75s in the same race. In men’ 200m sprint, the 400m national record holder, Muhammad Anas came third with a timing of 20.75 seconds. In 400m race, K S Jeevan scored another bronze with a timing of 47.25 seconds.
Here’s wishing Hima and her contemporaries our best wishes to keep making us proud with their stunning performances!
