HIMA DAS – The Great Indian Athlete

Hima Das made history by becoming India’s first ever track and field gold medalist at the IAAF World U-20 Championships, in Tampere, Finland in July 2018 when she aced the women’s 400m. The 18-year-old from Assam clocked 51.46 seconds, edging out Romania’s Andrea Milkos (silver) and America’s Taylor Manson (bronze). Daughter of a farmer, Das comes from Dhing, a small, obscure village about 30km from Nagaon in Assam. Hima’s talent was spotted by Nipon Das last January and he went on to become her coach. Her mother hadn’t even heard about the Commonwealth Games till Das’s participation. It was enough for her to watch her daughter on TV. At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games this April, Hima finished sixth at the 400m (51.32 seconds) and seventh at the 4x400m relay. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too reached out to congratulate her.