India’s track and field future looks bright as Hima Das created history by winning the first gold medal for India in track event at a global event. The 18-year-old from Assam won gold medal in the 400m final – at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Tamper, Finland.
Das was lagging behind at 5th position after the end of 300m mark but her tremendous run in the last 100m saw her beat four other sprinters to claim the top honour. She clocked a time of 51.46 seconds to win the gold.
Andrea Miklos of Romania came claimed silver with a timing of 52.07 seconds, while Taylor Manson of USA claimed the bronze with a timing of 52.28 seconds.
Das was allready a title contender when she clocked the best timings of 52.10 seconds in the semi final before finishing with a timing of 52.25 seconds in her heat.
Earlier, Das qualified for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games by winning a gold in the 400m race of the Federation Cup. She had clocked 51.97 seconds, under 52-second qualifying standard set by the Athletics Federation of India for selection to the Commonwealth Games squad.
In the Commonwealth Games against everyone’s expectation she qualified for the finals where she was to compete with Olympic and world championships medalist. She tried her best to secure a podium finish but could only manage a sixth spot with a timing of 51.32 in the 400m final. But that was a very big deal considering the amount of heavyweights in the race and she will only get better with time with more medals to follow in the future.
