As Hima Das won the women’s 200m gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland, many of us couldn’t stop applauding her strength and courage enough.
Even after struggling with a back problem for the past few months, Hima, the world junior champion and national record holder in 400m clocked 23.65s on her way to the 200m gold.
Though many are celebrating her achievement, very few are aware of teenager’s challenging story to success.
Hima Das’s inspiring journey will be forever remembered as the first-ever Indian woman, and, the first-ever Indian athlete to win a Gold in any world track event. The girl who never let circumstances control her ambition made headlines with every race.
Though there will be many more milestones to celebrate in the glorious future, the raw and rough past is what made her what she is today!
Hima Das is one of those real-life stories that prove – anybody with zeal to achieve will achieve.
If you are looking for a bit of inspiration, here are 8 motivational facts about Hima that will leave you awestruck and totally inspired.
#1: Hima is the youngest of 6 children in her family, a family of rice farmers.
She didn’t use her small village upbringing as an excuse. She pushed her limits and never gave up on her passion for sports, even though her family couldn’t afford that passion.
#2: Hima started her dream of becoming a sportsperson with football.
She played for local clubs as a striker. She put her footballer self to practice in her village school’s muddy turf. It was as recently as in 2016 that her PE coach suggested to try out an individual event.
#3: Until 2 years ago, our Goddess of Speed didn’t own any sporting gear or any paraphernalia needed for her races.
She started wearing a pair of spikes only 2 years ago!
#4:Â Her improvement in performance has been super fast.
Within just a few months into her training, she was more than qualified to compete in state championships in Guwahati, where she ran the 100 m race and finished with a bronze!
#5: Without any professional training unlike most other fellow competitors, she still made it to the finals in the Junior National Championships held in Coimbatore.
#6 After looking at her sheer potential, her coaches spoke to Hima’s family about letting her stay in Guwahati for the training that would make her an athlete to watch out for, on a global scale.
Her supportive parents were more than happy as long as their daughter had a bed to sleep in and three meals to feed on.
#7 Winning the Gold in Federation Cup gave her confidence and a ticket to Commonwealth Games in Gold coast, Australia. She finished first in 400 m race clocking in 51.97 seconds, thereby finishing under 52 seconds target set by Athletics Federation of India to qualify for joining the Commonwealth Games squad.
#8 Finishing in 51.46s, Hima broke the Indian U-20 record and finished sixth in 400m finals at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
She further improved her to 51.13s at National Inter-State Championship in Guwahati.
We wish her luck for her future endeavors and hope she will keep inspiring us!
