Hima’s world title hailed, federation slammed for tweet
NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: Teenager Hima Das has sent a clear message of her prowess by winning the 400m gold at the World U-20 athletics in Finland on Thursday, but the national federation has got into a tangle with its reaction.
Social media erupted in joy after the 18-year-old from Assam clocked 51.46 secs to win at Tampere, Finland to become the first Indian to win a track gold at a global meet.
The Athletics Federation of India though put its foot in the mouth. “Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too,” AFI tweeted while praising Hima handling the international media after the win. But it was soon left facing a volley of angry responses on social media.
AFI tweeted a clarification: “Also she comes from a very humble background & cannot even speak Hindi fluently, we are applauding her effort to face journalists & trying her best to speak in English. Hope now you understand that tweet.”
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sports Minister, RVS Rathore, India batsman Rohit Sharma, coach Ravi Shastri as well as football captain Sunil Chhetri hailed Hima’s achievement.
The win has catapulted the youngster from a humble village in Assam into global focus.
(it has created a sensation)... She has made the country proud,” said her father Ranjit Das, a farmer in Kandulmari village in Nagaon district.
“I always believed she would win it. She called me from Finland last night informing me of
ho gaya hai “Hungama
her victory,” the proud father said of his eldest daughter.
Hima’s rise on the track forced her to drop out of college and kept her away from her family. “She has visited us only twice in the last two years,” Ranjit said.
Hima’s first major exposure was in the 2016 national junior meet in Coimbatore, where she reached the final, said Nabajit Malakar, her first coach in Assam. “At the Assam state championships, she won gold in 100 and 200m,” said Malakar, who then sent her to Guwahati to train under Nipun Das.
“She managed to convince her parents and returned to Guwahati,” Nipun said. Hima then joined the academy run in Guwahati by the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare (DSYW). Hima was asked to try out 400m at the Open National meet last September and included in the national camp. Her 400m abilities were established after she was chosen to run a relay leg at the Asian Games test event in Jakarta in February, national coach Basant Singh said.
Hima won the Federation Cup title in February, going on to finish sixth at the April Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.