18-year-old Hima Das scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win gold in 400m at the IAAF U-20 World Athletics Championships. Das clocked 51.46 seconds to win the race at Tampere in Finland leaving behind
Andrea Miklos of Romania and Taylor Manson of USA.
Das, who hails from Assam, had clocked the fastest times in the two earlier rounds at Tampere. In the final, she was slightly behind around the 300m. But Hima quickly recovered herself and came back strongly to win the gold. However, Hima’s personal best stands at 51.13 seconds. Two years ago, javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won the gold in the under-20 World in Poland. This year, Hima Das stunned the world by winning the gold in track and field event. In the last 12 months, Hima has recorded a huge leap on the track in women’s 200m and 400m. Around this time last year, she took the 5th spot in the 200m at the Youth Worlds in Nairobi and she was 6th in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April.
