Hima Das (born 9 January 2000), nicknamed ''Dhing Express'', is an Indian sprinter from the state of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. She holds the current Indian national record in

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

with a timing of 50.79 s that she clocked at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

, Indonesia. She is the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the

IAAF World U20 Championships The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the year ...

. She was appointed as a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in Assam Police under the state's Integrated Sport Policy.

Early life

Hima Das was born at Kandhulimari village, near the town of

Dhing Dhing is a town in the northwest of the Nagaon district in the state of Assam, India. Geography Dhing is located at . It has an average elevation of 64 meters (210 feet). Dhing is approximately 25 kilometers from the city of Nagaon. Demographi ...

in her home state of

to Ronjit Das and Jonali Das in a Assamese Kaibartta family. Her parents are farmers by profession. She is the youngest of five siblings. She completed early education from Dhing Public High School. She used to play football and had always wanted to pursue a career in football. However, she did not see any prospects for herself in the women's football in India. In one of the inter-school camps, held in the nearby Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV), she would reach the ground before practice started, sometimes even before gates were opened. A physical education teacher of the Vidyalaya, Samsul Hoque, was very impressed by her decidation and punctuality. Moreover, she went on to win every races the Vidyalaya organised in the next few days. Later, Hoque convinced her to pursue a career in sprint running. Das passed her 12th board exams in May 2019. She is currently pursuing her

B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Cotton University Cotton University (formerly known as ''Cotton College'') is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton College Sta ...

, Assam.

Career

In April 2018, Das competed in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, in the 400 metres and the 4×400 metres relay. On 12 July 2018, Das won the

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

final at the World U-20 Championships 2018 held at

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, clocking 51.46 seconds and becoming the first Indian sprinter to win a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

at an international track event. At the

, Das qualified for the 400 m final, after clocking 51.00 in heat 1 and setting a new Indian national record. On 26 August 2018 she improved the national record to 50.79 s in the 400 m final however she could win only the silver medal. Later on 30 August 2018, she, along with

M. R. Poovamma Machettira Raju Poovamma (born 5 June 1990) is an Indian sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres distance. As a member of the Indian 4 × 400 m relay teams she participated in the 2016 Olympics and won gold medals at the 2014 and 2018 Asian ...

Sarita Gayakwad Saritaben Laxmanbhai Gayakwad (born 1 June 1994) is an Indian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles. She was part of the Indian women's 4 × 400 metres relay team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games. ...

and

V. K. Vismaya Velluva Koroth Vismaya (born 14 May 1997) is an Indian athlete from Kerala who specializes in the 400 metres. She was part of the gold-winning Indian team at the 2018 Asian Games. Early life and education Vismaya hails from Kannur, Kerala. H ...

won the women's 4 × 400 metres relay clocking 3:28.72. Hima also won a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m mixed relay, which was held for the first time at Asian Games. Das continued her success in 2019 winning the 200m gold in Poznan Grand Prix in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, on 2 July 2019, with a time of 23.65 seconds. On 13 July, she won the 200m at the Kladno Meet in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

with a time of 23.43 seconds. On 20 July 2019, she achieved her third win in a month, and fifth win, in the 400-meters in Nové Město,

in a time of 52.09 seconds. She was named for the World Championships to be held at Doha in October 2019. However a month before, she was ruled out of participation due to a back problem, that had started right after she competed at the Asian games the previous year. On 27 February 2021, Das enrolled as a

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

in the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police of Assam Police Service cadre through

Assam Public Service Commission The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) (Assamese: অসম লোকসেৱা আয়োগ) is a state recruitment agency for recruitment of Group 'A' officers and Group 'B' officers for the Government of Assam and all '' state gover ...

Direct Entry.

Awards and accolades

*Conferred with

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

on 25 September 2018. * Das appeared in India's famous TV reality-show conducted by actor

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

called

Kaun Banega Crorepati ''Kaun Banega Crorepati'' (also simply known as ''KBC'') is an Indian Hindi-language television game show. It is the official Hindi adaptation of the ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' franchise. It has been presented by actor Amitabh Bachchan ...

on 1 November 2019. * Hima Das Appointed as a

under the post of Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam Police Service cadre by

without her appearing for the Combined Competitive Examination but through direct entry mode in February 2021 * Das is the second athlete from

after

Bhogeswar Baruah Bhogeswar Baruah (Assamese: ভোগেশ্বৰ বৰুৱা; born 3 September 1940) is an Indian former-athlete and coach. He was one of the first Assamese to win gold at an international event, winning a He gold medal in an 800-metre ...

to win a gold medal at an international event.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Hima 2000 births Living people Indian female sprinters Commonwealth Games competitors for India Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India People from Nagaon district Asian Games silver medalists for India Recipients of the Arjuna Award Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World Athletics U20 Championships winners Athletes from Assam Sportswomen from Assam