India’s ace sprinter and recipient of the Arjuna Award, Hima Das has been nominated for the prestigious ‘Khel Ratna’ by the state government of Assam. The 20 year-old from Dhing village in Assam is one of the youngest nominees for the award, this year.
Hima is proudly India’s first track athlete to win a global title at U20 World Championship in Tampere, Finland in 2018. She will compete with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis player Manika Batra, cricketer Rohit Sharma and women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal for the country’s highest sporting honour.
2018 was a memorable season for Hima Das. Followed by her U-20 world title with 400m silver medal, the athlete won gold medals in 4X400 mixed relay and women’s 4X400m at the Jakarta Asian Games. Apart from that, she won a number of golds at smaller events and tournaments in the 2019 season.
Continuing to sizzle, she bagged another set of gold medals in 200m at Poznan Athletics Grand Prix and 200m at Kladno Athletics Meet. Hima was also invited to compete at the Doha World Championship but due to a back injury, she ruled out from the prestigious championship.
‘ৰাজীৱ গান্ধী খেল ৰত্ন’ বঁটাৰ বাবে হিমা দাসৰ নাম প্ৰস্তাৱ@HimaDas8 https://t.co/RD5J9eQb0E
— News18 Assam NE (@News18Northeast) June 15, 2020