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What's the story?
In a momentous occasion for Indian Sports and the joyful state of Assam, 18-year-old Hima Das, who scripted history by becoming clinching India's first ever gold medal in the women's category of the IAAF World U-20 Athletics Championships is set to be named as Assam's first ever sports ambassador.
The decision was undertaken by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also happened to meet the ace sprinter's family post the teenager's achievement at the championships.
In case you didn't know
The 18-year old Hima Das went into the tournament as the favorite to win and she did not disappoint, clocking 51.46s as she claimed the top spot ahead of the second-placed Andrea Miklos in the 400m finals which were held in Tampere, Finland.
The heart of the Matter
Hima's top show at the finals attracted a lot of attention as social media went into a tizzy with the likes of former Indian athlete P.T Usha, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeting on the portentous occasion.
Assam's Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who took the decision to name Hima as the 'Sports Ambassador' of Assam has also promised a ₹50 lakh award to the young sprinter on her return back to the homeland from the competition.
Hima is the first-ever female gold medal winner for India in the competition with Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (both discus throw) winning bronze medals in the earlier editions of the tournament while Neeraj Chopra is the only other gold-medal winning Indian athlete with his top effort in the Javelin Throw event.
What's next?
Hima Das' exemplary show in the Junior event will certainly give her the impetus to train harder and put up another impressive performance at the Asian Games 2018, where the youngster will be the center of attraction with her recent exploits at the IAAF U20 championships.
