IAAF World U-20 Championships 2018, Hima Das carries India's hopes: Telecast, date, start time and where to watch online

Many Indians will be eagerly waiting for Hima Das to be on track on Thursday for the 400m sprint in the IAAF World Championships final. Das is not prepared to play second foil to anybody as she remains the favourite to win the gold medal, which in itself is a rare expectation of an Indian sprinter.

Providing the toughest challenge to her would be Taylor Manson who has clocked at 51.74 seconds in the semi-finals, while Das clocked 51.32. This would be a first for an Indian sprinter at this championship if she manages to nudge past all her challengers.

Das, the daughter of a rice farmer, couldn't even manage to explain to her mother what the Commonwealth Games were when she qualified for it. She had won the gold medal at the Federation Cup to qualify for the competition where she fared beyond expectations to stand 6th.

She never had a proper track to train and had mostly played football in local clubs and wanted to be a footballer until her PE teacher suggested to her that a football career would be very tough to pursue. Realization dawned upon her that an individual sport would be a much better option considering her circumstances.

Once she began taking part in competitions at the national level, she attracted the attention of Nipon Das who was able to convince her father to take her away for training only because he promised him three meals a day for Hima!

The girl from the Dhing village in Nagaon has seen extraordinary improvement in her timings since the Commonwealth Games in April, which has become the subject of discussion among Indian sport pundits and enthusiasts. There is a great chance of history being made by this wonder kid of Indian athletics.