Hima Das

Hima Das

Hima Das at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships
Personal information
Nationality	Indian
Born	(2000-01-09) 9 January 2000 (age 24) Dhing, Nagaon, Assam
Sport
Country	India
Sport	Track and field
Event	400 metres
Coached by	Nipon Das
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	400 m: 51.13 (Guwahati 2018)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  India World U20 Championships 2018 Tampere 400 m

Hima Das (Assamese: হিমা দাস)(born 9 January 2000) is an Indian sprinter. After winning the gold medal at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships, she became the first Indian to win a gold medal in a track event at the World Junior Athletics Championships.

Hima Das was born in Nagaon, Assam to Ronjit and Jonali Das; she is the youngest of four children.^[1] Hima began playing football as a child. She played the sport with the boys at her school and wanted to pursue a career in football. Later, on the suggestion of Shamsul Hoque, a Physical Education Trainer from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Das switched over to athletics and began participating in short distance races.^[2]

Das was discovered by Nipon Das, an athletics coach from the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare during an inter-district. He asked her to shift to the state's capital Guwahati for training. Hima Das' parents agreed to the proposal despite their reservations. Das moved to a rented accommodation near the Sarusajai Sports Complex and got enrolled to the state academy, which specialised in boxing and football. Later, a separate wing was started for athletics.^[2]

Das competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 400 metres and the 4x400 metres relay.^[3] In the 400 metres, Das qualified for the final where she finished sixth in a time of 51.32 seconds, 1.17 seconds behind gold medalist Amantle Montsho from Botswana.^[4] In the 4x400 metres relay she was part of the Indian team that competed in the final. They finished seventh, with a time of 3  minutes and 33.61 seconds.^[5]

Das became the first Indian track athlete to hold a global title on winning the Gold medal at the World U-20 Championships 2018 at Tampere, Finland, in Women's 400m with a time of 51.46 seconds.Having run a slower first half, Das accelerated on the last 100 meter stretch overtaking three competitors en route to the gold medal.^[6] Das is now part of a group of Indian athletes who have won medals at the World U20 Championships, which includes Seema Punia (Bronze, Discus throw), Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (Bronze, Discus throw) and Neeraj Chopra (Gold, Javelin throw).^[7][8]

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  India
2018	2018 IAAF World U20 Championships	Tampere, Finland	1st	400 m	51.46 s

• Hima DAS at World Athletics