Hima Das bagged her fourth gold in a fortnight in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, 17 July coming in first at 23.25 seconds in a 200m race inching closer to her personal best of 23.10s. This is the 19-year old’s fourth gold medal in the fortnight the first being on July 2 in her first competitive race in Europe.
In her first 200m race on July 2, Das clocked in at 23.65s at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland, her first gold. On July 7, Das repeated her magic sprinting to the gold at 23.97s on the clock at Kutno Athletics Meet again in Poland. On July 13, Das was in for a hattrick gold when she clocked in at 23.43s at the Kladno Athletics meet in the Czech Republic.
Das had left everyone surprised with her winning streak but then she capped it off with her amazing speed at the Tabor Athletics Meet in the Czech Republic on July 17, leaving her competitors in the dust. With this win, Hima Das came close to her personal best of 23.10s in the 200m but she still has to go a long way to get to the World Championship qualifying cut-off time at 23.02s.
Her pet event is touted to be the 400m race but she is yet to qualify for that event either with World Championship qualification time being capped at 51.80s. Hima Das an Arjuna awardee and UNICEF ambassador began her career at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in the 400m race and 4x400m relays without much luck for her personally or for her team. She then went on to win India’s first track medal at an IAAF event ever in Tampere, Finland at the U-20 World Championships 2018. With a phenomenal 51.46s on the clock, Das had sprinted her way into a gold medal early into her career.
The sprinter who hails from the state of Assam has also vowed to donate half her monthly salary to help with the relief efforts in the flood-stricken state. She has also urged citizens and corporates alike to help out with the tragedy.
