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 o ...

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 continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 Augus ...

in 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 The Assam Police is the law enforcement agency for the state of Assam in India. A regular police force was initiated in Assam by the British after the Treaty of Yandaboo to maintain the law and order. It functions under the Department of Home Af ...

under the state's Integrated Sport Policy.

Early life

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

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, 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 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, Sarita Gayakwad and V. K. Vismaya 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 populou ...

, 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 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 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 Mur ...

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