Hima Das is an Indian sprint runner from Assam. The 19-year-old girl is known as “The Dhing Express” because she holds the record of running 400 meters in just 50.79 seconds at the Asian Games Jakarta, Indonesia in 2018. This record is considered as Indian National Record. She is also the first Indian athlete to bag gold medal in IAAF World U20 Championship and this is the story of the Dhing express and golden girl of India.
Early Life of the Dhing Express
Das was born on January 9, 2000, in a poor family Kandhulimari village in Assam’s Nagaon district. Her parents Ronjit and Jonali do farming to support the family.
Das started her educational career from the Dhing Public School where she found interest in football. One day she was playing football with some boys when her teacher Shams ul Sheikh noticed her incredible running speed and provided him the information to start the career of sprinting that later followed the national record of India.
Early Success
Hima succeeded to bag marvelous achievements at the very start of her career that made her famous in just a couple of years. The eldest of the six siblings was a renowned athlete of her district in 2016.
Due to the lack of a professional environment and facilities, she had to continue her training on rough tracks. In spite of lack of professional coaching, the young sprinter succeeded to win a bronze medal in the state meet and later she qualified and reached in the final of the junior national championship.
Her journey didn’t stop here; she qualified for the Asian Youth Championship, Bangkok for a 200m event where she finished 7th in the tournament with the timing of 24.52 seconds that was enough to qualify for the World Youth Championship to be held in Nairobi. There, she held 5th with the overall time of 24.31 seconds.
Journey to Success
After the early successes, the Dhing Express was much confident to compete well in the Common Wealth Games Gold Coast, Australia on April 2018.
In this event, she was competing in the 400 and 4×400 meters relay. Previously, she reached in the final but unluckily, she held 6th with the overall time of 51.32 seconds. The 4×400 meters relay was also disappointing for her as the team held 7th with the final time of 3 minutes and 33.61 seconds.
In July 2018, Das succeeded to won first place in the 400 meters event of the World U-20 Championship held at Tampere, Finland. On her maiden accomplishment with the timing of 51.46 seconds, she bagged the first gold medal for India.
The Dhing Express at Asian Games
Records and achievements were waiting for Das at Asian Games. She qualified for the 400m final by clocking 51.00 seconds setting a new Indian record. In the final, she clocked 50.79 seconds in the 400m beating the previous record and bagged silver medal for India and also won a silver medal in 4×400 m mixed relay.
Further Awards
After her outstanding performance at Asian Games, Jakarta, Sportswear Company Adidas signed Das for sponsorship. The company has promised that the athlete will be provided with the best products according to her athletic needs.
Das was also presented Arjuna Award by the Indian President. The government of Assam appointed her as the state’s brand ambassador for sports and later that year, UNICEF India appointed this young sprinter as India’s first youth ambassador.
