On Thursday (July 12, 2018), Hima Das scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win the gold medal in the women’s 400-metre event at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. Hima registered a time of 51.46 seconds in the final at the Ratina Stadium to become the first Indian athlete to win gold in a world championship across all age groups. Andrea Miklos of Romania took silver with a personal best time of 52.07 seconds. Taylor Manson of the US registered 52.28 seconds to finish third.
Hima had done well in the earlier rounds as well, winning Heat 4 with a time of 52.25 seconds. She emerged on top in the semi-finals as well, winning her race in 52.10 seconds. She now joins the illustrious company of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won a gold in Poland in the last edition in 2016 in a world record effort. In fact, Das is the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of this competition. The previous medal winners at the World Junior Championships were Seema Punia (bronze in discus in 2002) and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (bronze in discus in 2014).
Here is the video highlight of her race at the IAAF World U20 Championships. Check out the video and post your comments.
भारतीय एथलीट #HimaDas ने रचा इतिहास, विश्व अंडर-20 एथलेटिक्स चैंपियनशिप में 400 मीटर दौड़ का स्वर्ण? पदक जीतने वाली पहली भारतीय महिला बनीं pic.twitter.com/WfVlwQ6DoJ
— दूरदर्शन न्यूज़ (@DDNewsHindi) July 13, 2018
