Who is India's athletics sensation Hima Das?
18-year-old Hima Das has captured the imagination of every Indian as she became the first athlete to bag a gold medal in the 400 metre final-event at the World U20 Championships in Finland. She clocked 51.46 seconds. Prior to this, no track athlete, from India, has achieved his feat. So who is she and what's her journey been like? Let's have a look.
Hima's journey started from Assam's rice fields
Hima has become the talk of the town and is ruling social media sites after her historical achievement. She hails from a village in Assam and her father is a farmer, who works in rice fields. She used to play football in the mud pits with the village boys since childhood, before a local coach advised her to take athletics.
Coach Nipon the reason behind Hima's decision
Hima's parents were reluctant, at first, to send her to Guwahati when the teenager was spotted by an athletics coach, who used to work with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare. The coach, named Nipon, persuaded her family to let her come to Guwahati. He got her a rented accommodation near the Sarusajai Sports Complex and she impressed everyone with her performances.
Time for Assam to identify such talents
Assam is not known to produce athletes but the rise of Hima can now motivate youngsters to take up the track and field section of athletics. If such talents come forward and are spotted at an early age, this can help India excel in sports.
A look at Hima's records
Hima belongs to Assam's Nagaon district and stays in a village called Dhing. She took up track athletics, as a runner, only last year. Hima clocked 51.32 seconds earlier in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which in turn is an Indian U-20 record at the event. She also holds the national record of 51.13 seconds in 400m at the National Inter State Championships.
