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What's the story?
India’s most talked about athlete at the present moment, Hima Das was left out of India’s mixed team relay event in the upcoming 2018 Asian Games. She will be more focussed on her individual events (200m and 400m), but will give a miss to the newly introduced 4x400m mixed relay event.
In case you didn't know...
The sprinter from Assam created history a few days ago after she won the gold medal in the 400m event at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships. She clocked an impressive 51.46 seconds in the final of the competition, leaving the others behind by quite some distance, which was a remarkable feat.
The heart of the matter
The gap between the 200m heats and the mixed team relay is too short, which was the main reason why India’s fastest woman was omitted from the mixed team.
“There is a clash of event timings and so Hima’s name had to be withdrawn from the mixed-team relay," said national coach Basant Singh.
“The gap between the 200m heats and the mixed-team relay is short. Hence it will be difficult for one athlete to take part in both,” he added.
The coach is very optimistic about the prospects of Das in the Asian Games and believes she has the possibility to break her personal best record of a timing of 51.13 seconds. Basant said, “She might break the 51-second barrier in 400m and there are chances she might break the 23-seconds barrier in the 200m.”
Hima’s personal best in the 200m event is 23.10 seconds.
What's next?
After making her arrival at the world stage, Assam’s wonder girl would be eyeing the Asian Games gold medal in Jakarta next month. Although this is a very early stage to comment, it goes without saying that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will be the biggest stage in which she wants to mark a mark.
Hima is already one of India's best athletes in a track event and she still has a lot to achieve.
Do you think the omission of Hima Das will be a blow to India's medal-winning chances in the mixed team event? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below.
