Sprint star receives praise from Sachin and PM

INDIAN sprinter Hima Das recently won her fifth gold of July as she recorded a season-best time of 52.09 seconds to clinch first place in the 400m race which was held at Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic last Saturday. Prior to her victory, Das, pictured, managed to bag herself four gold medals in the 200m category. The achievements of the youngster have not gone unnoticed and she has gone on to earn praise from Indian President Ram Nath Kovind as well as from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar. “Loving the way you have been running in the European circuit over the last 19 days. Your hunger to win and perseverance is an inspiration for the youth. Congrats on your 5 Medals! All the best for the future races” wrote Tendulkar on social media network Twitter. Unfortunately, the 19-year-old narrowly missed out on the World Championships as it has a qualification mark of 51.80. She would have qualified for the Championships had she managed to equal her career best of 50.79 seconds which was recorded at the Asian Games in 2018. While the setback would certainly be disappointing to the youngster, it is important to realise that she is still in the infancy of her career and should be able to improve as an athlete during her early and mid 20’s. She certainly has the attitude to achieve plenty at the highest level and did not allow the frustration of failing to complete her 400m heat in the Asian Athletics Championship in April due to a back spasm to get to her. Das also put up a good effort during the 400m final of the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast Australia as she finished sixth with a time of 51.32 seconds, 1.17 seconds behind winner Amantle Montsho from Botswana. The “Dhing Express” became the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the International Association of Athletics Federations World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland, in 2018. It was a phenomenal effort as she struggled during the first half of the race before a fantastic rise during the final 100m saw her overtake three competitors. Das, who is a symbol of women and youth empowerment in India, took a love to sports from a tender age. At the age of just 18, she was conferred with the Arjuna Award by President Kovind in 2018 due to her excellence in athletics during a ceremony in New Dehli. In 2018, he also went on to make history as she was appointed as the first ever Sports Ambassador for the State of Assam in India. In late 2018, the UN Children’s Fund, Unicef India, appointed Das as India’s first Youth Ambassador. Das, who was born to farmers Ronjit and Jonali Das, was particularly interested in playing football. Later on, following advice from her School Physical Education teacher Shamsul Hoque, she decided to embark on sprint as her prime focus. While Das is a dedicated athlete, she is also one who takes education seriously and completed her Grade 12 exams through the Assam Higher Secondary Council in May. “I am looking at major tournaments and am trying to focus on my training and examination” Hima said earlier this year prior to completing her studies. “I have made my schedule in a way that when I am getting time away from studies, I am training.”