Indian sprinter Hima Das scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold at the IAAF World Under 20 Athletics Championships on Thursday as she clinched the top spot in the women’s 400m final race on the third day of competitions.
Hima Das is the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of this competition. The previous medal winners at the World Junior Championships were Seema Punia who won bronze in discus throw event in 2002 and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon who also won bronze for the same event as Seema Punia in the year 2014.
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The 18-year-old was a tournament favourite as she is the Under 20 season leader in the quarter mile event. She clocked 51.46 seconds to clinch the top spot. She now joins the illustrious company of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who won a gold in Poland in 2016 which was a world record.
Hima trained in her father’s rice fields in Dhing Village and scripted a journey to the top which is nothing less than spectacular considering that she took up serious racing only last year. The teenager had earlier clocked an Indian Under 20 record of 51.32 seconds to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Games 400m final in Gold Coast this year in April.
No woman before Hima Das has won a gold medal in a World Championship at any level, be it youth, junior or senior. She is also the first Indian to have won a gold in a track event at the world level.
Coming from Dhing village in Assam’s Nagaon district it will be a proud moment for the 18 year old as she has become the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of this competition.