Also read in
News

Assam girl Hima Das creates history; farmer’s daughter wins India a gold at IAAF World Championship

By barakbulletin

Assam girl Hima Das has scripted history. She has become the first Indian athlete to win gold in a track event. The 18-year-old won the 400m final, at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championship in Tampere, Finland. The daughter of a rice farmer from Dhing village in Nagaon district, the victory comes after just 18 months of her first competitive race. She blazed on the field and overtook her rivals in the final 80m, and clocked 51.46 at the end of her race.

Hima started off with football, kicking the ball with boys in the mud pits next to the rice fields. She was then advised by a local coach to take up athletics. Soon, the teenager was spotted by Nipon, an athletics coach with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare, during an inter-district meet. “She was wearing cheap spikes but she won gold in the 100 and 200. She ran like the wind. I hadn’t seen such a talent in ages,” her coach told Indian Express.

Hima soon moved to Guwahati to train professionally. Being the youngest of her six siblings, her parents were apprehensive of sending her off. But with Nipon managing to convince them, they finally relented.

Hima has also competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in both the 400 metres and the 4×400 metres relay. In the 400 metres, she qualified for the final where she finished sixth. In the 4×400 metres relay, she was part of an Indian team that competed in the final, finishing at the seventh spot.

From the President of India, PM Narendra Modi to star cricketers and Bollywood stars, they all took to Twitter to congratulate the young star

 

The humble athlete also shared a tweet to appreciate the love coming her way

You might also like More from author

Comments are closed.