Till a few days back, the world hardly knew about this rice farmers daughter from Dhing who had her goals set for a big win. Now, she can’t get over all the attention and appreciations she is receiving after becoming world’s best Under-20 women’s 400 meters runner.
Hima Das’ road to success is no less than a Bollywood story. However, her coach Nipon Das feels that this is just a start for her on the road to victory as she will get a medal again the in Asian Games.
“She always had the zeal and dedication to achieve her dreams and make it happen. When I met her for the first time in January 2017, I knew that she will touch the sky and will do something great for the country,” Nipon,” said the athletics coach with the Directorate of Sports and Youth Welfare
Coming from a little known village in Assam’s hinterlands, Hima clinched the top spot in the women’s 400m final race in the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Tampere (Finland).
Talking about her love for game, Nipon said: She was always into 100 and 200-metre race and was doing great, but we thought that she can do better in 400 metres as well. I started taking her trial for 400 metres and she performed really well. After that, her schedule for 400-metre race started.
“I feel that Hima is very hard working, dedicated and has strong psychological power. She learns by observing things. She has good relations with everybody. When she is on ground, nothing can distract her except work,” said Nipon
He also says that Hima always liked training with the boys. “That was a strategy. If a girl trains with a boy, her performance improves. She has a high confidence level and when she thinks of doing something, she ends up doing that,” he said.
Talking about her future goals, Nipon is confident that she will win big at Asian Games too. “I am sure she is going to win the Asian Games too. She is more confident than me. She keeps telling me ‘Sir I never run after medals but against time’. When I will take less time to finish a race, I will automatically win. She will definitely make India proud once again at Asian Games,” he said. The 2018 games will start on August 18 in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.
