Hima Das’ victory at the IAAF Under-20 World Championships made her the first Indian track medallist at a global meet, senior or junior. While her rise was steady, that was the moment the whole of India stood up and took notice. It isn’t often you see an Indian sprint for gold at the global level.
Riding on that high, Das came in to the Asian Games knowing a gold would be a stretch. Her main competition was Bahraini quarter-miler Salwa Eid Naser who broke Ma Yuqin’s long-standing Asian record of 49.81 seconds set in 1993. Naser had gone below 50 seconds an incredible five times this year and as a 19-year-old, had pipped Allyson Felix to the silver medal at the Athletics World Championships.
As it turned out, she was the only real competition to Das as the Indian sprinted her way to a thoroughly deserved silver medal, breaking the national record twice in two days.
Das’ efforts at the Tampere Stadium in Finland brought her critical acclaim but it was her efforts at the Asian Games, that show she truly belongs. Considering that it was just her second senior competition at a global level, Das’ timing of 50.79 seconds in the final was a good 0.26 seconds better than the previous national record. Her previous ‘big’ event was the Commonwealth Games where she had run a personal best of 51.32.
“Target is always the same, to produce my best timing,” said Das after her Asiad silver. “And today, best timing, national record and silver medal - I am delighted.”
The Dhing Express had a personal best of 51.13 seconds coming into the Asian Games, and showed more consistency than any other Indian woman quarter-miler before, clocking seven sub-52 second times this year alone.
Hima’s breakthrough
At the Federation Cup in March this year, Das came to the limelight. MR Povamma, Asian Games gold medallist and Olympian, was supposed to be the main draw at the 400 metres and a clear favourite in the absence of Nirmala Sheoran and Jisna Matthews. Jauna Murmu, a long-time camper and Sonia Baishya, a 22-year-old rising talent were also closely watched.
As the race began, the youngest of the field, an 18-year-old from Assam started to take flight. By the time she finished, the scoreboard flashed 51.97s, and it dawned upon all those present that the CWG cut-off was 52 seconds. Das had qualified for the 400 metres in her first ever attempt at the distance in a national meet.
Das could very well have become a footballer if not for the intervention of coaches Nabajit Malakar and Nipon Das, who saw the potential in her. “I was a striker. However, I was not sure whether I could be really good at it. I played for a lot of local clubs and played at state level. Then sirs (Nabajit and Nipun) saw me and gave me a chance,” Das had said back then.
The best part was that the 400 metres wasn’t her preferred event till recently. Born to Ronjit Das, a former footballer and Jomali Das, the youngest of five siblings had broken through at the Assam State Championships, where she had secured bronze in the 100 metres, without any tactical or technical training.
The sprinter from Dhing village in Nagaon district then qualified for the finals of the junior nationals in Coimbatore. February 2017 saw her win a bronze in the 100 and a silver in the 200 at the school nationals. The same set of medals followed at the youth nationals in Hyderabad. That ensured qualification for the Asian Youth Championships in Bangkok, as she slashed 0.33 seconds off her best time, clocking 24.52 seconds.
Originally drafted in as an addition to the 4 X 400 metre relay team, the decision to field her at the Fed Cup was a last-minute one. Even as late as last month, Hima had won an Asian Games test event in Jakarta, bagging gold in the 200 metres.
Commonwealth Games and World Championships
At Gold Coast, she continued to improve. Reaching the final at her first multi-disciplinary meet was a high, but to finish fifth with a time of 51.32 seconds on foreign soil was a rarity for an Indian sprinter - and to better her Personal Best at the big stage, showed she wasn’t fazed by the situation.
It was also the second-fastest time by an Indian since Manjeet Kaur set the national record of 51.05 seconds in 2004. At the Inter-State Championships in Guwahati, she was the local favourite and did not disappoint, with a new personal best of 51.13 seconds.
And then came that Under-20 World Championships final in Tampere. Das won the women’s 400-metre race with a time of 51.46 metres, as the commentator summed it up perfectly.
Here comes Hima Das. The Indian can see the line. She can see history. India’s never won any medal in a track event. But Das has done it here!
Watch the race here:
After that memorable win, a training stint in Czech Republic followed and thanks to putting in the hard yards, on Sunday, she emerged the second-best quarter-miler in the continent.
And as she said afterwards, the focus from here on was “just to improve my timing.”
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