Indian sprinter Hima Das, or rather, Dhing Express, as she is fondly referred to, claimed her 5th gold medal of the month yesterday. She clocked a season-best time of 52.09s in a 400m competition in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Her earlier best time this season stands at 52.88 seconds.
She tweeted, “Finished 400m today on the top here in Czech Republic.”
Finished 400m today on the top here in Czech Republic today 🏃♀️ pic.twitter.com/1gwnXw5hN4
— Hima (mon jai) (@HimaDas8) July 20, 2019
Her personal best is 50.79 seconds, which she managed at the Jakarta Asian Games last year. However, with the seasonal best of 52.09 seconds, she has narrowly missed out on the World Championships qualifying mark of 51.80.
The 19-year-old hails from Assam and is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Finland in 2018. Clocking 51.46 seconds, the win enabled her to become the first Indian sprinter to win a gold medal at an international track event.
This is the 5th gold medal since July 2, when Hima Das ran her first competitive race at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland. The race was a competitive 200m race, in which she clocked 23.65 seconds. After that, she won her second 200m gold at the Kutno Athletics Meet, on July 7, again in Poland, with a time of 23.97 seconds. She won the race irrespective of a sore back. Hima Das won her third 200m gold at the Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic on July 13 with a time of 23.43. Her fourth gold came at the Tabor Athletics Meet on July 17, again in Czech Republic.
Due to her immense achievements, Hima Das was appointed Assam’s brand ambassador for sports by the Assam government last year. In an attempt to laud her for her achievements, Hima Das was even awarded the Arjuna award last year. Further making India proud, she was appointed as India’s first ever youth ambassador to the United Nations Children’s Fund-India (Unicef-India) on 14th November last year.
Along with performing tremendously on the sports’ front, Hima Das is a very responsible citizen and has been urging people to aid the victims of the Assam floods. She also revealed that she has donated half the salary she receives from Indian Oil Corporation towards the relief funds. Urging people to follow her example, she tweeted, “Flood situation in our state Assam is very critical, 30 out of 33 districts are currently affected. So i would like to request big corporates and individuals to kindly come forward and help our state in this difficult situation (sic).”
Hima Das is making India proud and is an excellent role model for the millions of young Indian girls. Indian culture encourages all sporting activities and is immensely proud of the young athlete’s achievements. She has brought prestige to her family, state and above all, the nation.