India’s long wait for a track gold at an IAAF World Championships is over.
Hima Das, who virtually went into the final as the top seed, lived up to that billing, taking the women’s 400m gold at the World under-20 athletics championships here on Thursday.
The 18-year-old from Assam, the fastest in the two earlier rounds here, once again produced a strong finish to bring the historic gold in 51.46 seconds.
Romania’s Andrea Milkos took the silver in 52.07s while American Taylor Manson, who was expected to push Hima hard, was third in 52.28.
The Indian was slightly behind the leader around the 300m mark but as the others appeared to fade away, Hima — whose personal best stands at 51.13 — proved that she had enough gas in the tank to take the medal that mattered.
And as Adille Sumariwalla, president, Athletics Federation of India, presented her with the gold medal, there were tears of joy in Hima’s eyes.
Two years ago, when javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won India’s first-ever IAAF Worlds gold in the u-20 category in Poland, nobody had an inkling that a track gold was just one edition away.
But Hima is no stranger to the big stage. Around this time last year, she took the fifth spot in the 200m at the Youth Worlds in Nairobi. And she was sixth in the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April.
Sreeshankar sixth
Junior national record holder M. Sreeshankar, who went into the men’s long jump as the world’s fourth best junior jumper this year with a personal best 7.99m, finished sixth on Wednesday with 7.75, which came in his second attempt.
Japan’s Yuki Hashioka won the gold with 8.03 and he was the only jumper to cross eight metres. Cuban Maikal Y. Vidal, the world leader, took the silver with 7.94.
Later, Indonesia’s Lalu Muhammed Zohri pulled off a huge surprise, winning the men’s 100m for his country’s first-ever gold at the u-20 Worlds. Running in the eighth lane, Lalu, also the Asian junior champion, clocked 10.18 and emerged as the fastest man.