“I don’t chase medals, I chase time” Hima Das said after finishing a creditable sixth at the Commonwealth Games this year where she clocked 51.32s. She meant every word. At the U20 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, the Assam girl was a tad slower, 51.46s, but it was good enough to see her zoom up to super-stardom, as she became the first Indian track athlete to win gold at a global event. Between Tampere and Jakara, where she then came for her maiden Asian Games, Das had been lapped up by a sports and entertainment firm that would take care of her commercial interests for two years. In Jakarta, first she ran 51.00s in her qualification, a new national record. She’d gone past Manjeet Kaur’s 14-year old national record of 51.05s. And then, 24 hours later, the 18 year old clocked 50.79s in the final, breaking her own record to bag silver. It was wonderful moment for me winning silver medal for my country in the Asian Games. Thankyou everyone for your support. Looking forward to my other events.🇮🇳Love you alll 😘😘😘 pic.twitter.com/GHXLR56kwS— Hima Das (@HimaDas8) August 26, 2018 In the process, she became the first Indian woman to run sub-51. Only Bahrain’s Salwa Naser, the eventual gold medallist with a Games record timing of 50.79s. Das’ coach in Assam, Nabajit Malakar, calls her hatke. “What have you done?” Malakar asked her in shock when Das returned from her first international outing in Bangkok with a blonde streak in her hair. “This will become a trend, Sir, you wait and watch,” was his ward’s response. She wasn’t wrong. As Das headed to Jakarta, a group of friends back in Assam dyed a portion of their hair blonde too. To go with her hairstyle, Das has a positive attitude, body language that oozes confidence, and a now-famous Assamese catchphrase, Mon Jai, which means ‘I feel like’. At the moment, Das in chasing time, as she likes. Getting better with each meet. At CWG, she finished sixth in a stiff field, in Jakarta, she missed out on gold to the World Championship silver medallist. SILVER FOR @HimaDas8 18 year-old champion and #TOPSAthlete @himadas8 has bagged a SILVER medal in women’s 400 metres! Not only this, she has created a NEW NATIONAL RECORD!WELL DONE, STAR! Keep it up!#KheloIndia #AsianGames2018 pic.twitter.com/nwCX5Sp9po— Rajyavardhan Rathore (@Ra_THORe) August 26, 2018 The last 200m is when the daughter of a rice farmer from India, picks up pace with an unbelievable burst of energy and power, as she gets closer to the finish line. In Das and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, India have the kind of athletes it hasn’t had in a fairly long time – incredible performers in their respective events, and X-factor to go with that. How India preserves this kind of talent and grooms them for further glory is going to be crucial now on.<doc-sep>What's the story? India has had their bag filled to the brim at the Asian Games athletics by happy clinching medals out of which 7 are gold, 10 are silver and 2 bronze. The wildly successful Indian Women's 4x400m relay team did the nation proud as they lived up to our expectations in Indonesia and brought home a gold medal for the 5th consecutive Asian Games. The brilliant strategy of having their best runner Hima Das take the opening run gave the Indians the much-needed split time and ensured that the gold medal returned to the country safe and sound. The perpetually jovial and spirited Das showed the traits of a true sportsperson immediately after the win when she jogged over to the Japanese relay team, who had come so close to getting a medal but ended up finishing fifth in the list. In case you didn't know... The doe-eyed athlete from Assam has been a household name for the past week as she tore down one National Record after another. In her 400m Heats, she overthrew Manjeet Kaur's National Record and replaced it with her own of 51.00 seconds. The very next day, Das broke her own one-day-old record and bettered it with a 50.79 seconds finish in the 400m Finals, which gave her a silver at the Games. The heart of the matter The Japanese Women's Relay team, comprising Ayaka Kawata, Yume Kitampura, Eri Utsunomiya and Ayano Shiomi, put up a great show and came very close to getting a medal in the relay race. For India, who benefited immensely with the brilliant head start by Hima Das, Poovamma Machettira, Gayakwad, Velluva Koroth kept maintaining the split difference swiftly to ensure the gold came home. While the Indians finished the relay in a whirlwind 3:28:72, Japan came very close to getting a bronze themselves as they completed in 3:34:14 which is the seasonal best for them. Das, showing the true traits of a sportsperson at the tender age of 18, went over to the Japanese team and huddled together with them in a group hug. Das, who has always been the incredibly jovial kind, knows how to be humble even though she has two silver and a gold to boast of now. Holding out her hand and showing support this way is what makes the young Das an extraordinary champion. What's next? As much as rivalries are important in the sports arenas, it must be remembered that it's a sport at the end of the day. In a game, somebody has to lose always for another to win. It's a long cycle of winning and losing that makes sport so beautiful -- be it of any kind. To see Hima Das exhibiting these qualities is indeed heart-warming as it must have been felt by the Japanese relay team as well. No matter how much success she may lap up to at the end of the day, Das has proved once again how humble and wonderful a sportsperson she is! How big an inspiration is Hima Das for Indian athletes and rising youngsters after her three-medal haul at the Asian Games? This article was covered by Sportskeeda's correspondent who traveled to the Asian Games as a part of the Tissot Hospitality Program. Tissot is the official timekeeper of the Asian Games!<doc-sep>Dutee Chand (left, 100m) and Hima Das (400m) won silver for India in Jakarta, Sunday. (PTI Photo) Dutee Chand (left, 100m) and Hima Das (400m) won silver for India in Jakarta, Sunday. (PTI Photo) FOR AN entire generation of young Indians, P T Usha has been a reverential chapter in a textbook, albeit asterisked with Olympic disappointment. But on Sunday, Jakarta beamed pure, surging speed into Indian TV screens — young Dutee Chand and the younger Hima Das made the promise of gold at the finish seem so seductive that the silver barely carried the sigh of a lost final. A country that can fill up a book on its fourth-place disillusionment, a nation that waves away every conceivable lip-biting let-down with a “koi nahin”, a population that loves its medal-missers no matter what, took a bounding leap into fighting for gold some day. On Sunday though, it was silver for both – Hima in the 400m, and Dutee in 100m. On a day that Chinese Sun Bingtian crashed the Asian Games 100m record at 9.91s and spoke of the continent’s ability to make up for years of being on the fringe of glory in track and field, the two women put India bang in the centre of a speed-junkie’s sights. Hima Das, the still-fresh World Junior champ from Finland, came out bounding in her first major senior Games. The full-lap race quickly turned into a duel between World Championship silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser of Bahrain and India’s Das running in Lanes 5 and 3. Dutee Chand secured silver in Women’s 100m finals. (Source: AP) Dutee Chand secured silver in Women’s 100m finals. (Source: AP) Hima’s last burst of speed is now imprinted on Indian minds — but it was the start here at Jakarta that cleanly set her apart from the rest of the field. It was Naser, a swaggering Nigerian-born and her — Hima Das of India, who till three years ago was playing football. Just the two, powering on with strong strides and showing no intent to slow down — to fade. It ended when Naser, leading from start to finish, wolfed down the last crumbs of what was left of the track and create a two-stride distance at the finish. But Hima’s timing — 50.79, going under 51 in the same half-year as she went under 52 — gave a sniff of just how much further she could go while still in her first big season. It’s not like these medals are unprecedented for Indians at the Asian Games — Manjeet Kaur picked silver in Doha a dozen years ago in the 400m. But Hima’s legs moved like a train picking up pace and the Assam girl was leaving the station from where the blur looks beautiful way behind. Finish lines are terrible for India’s cardiac health, but with Hima running, the only medical condition you were at a risk of, was the bloodrush to the head. The two had gone head to head in the heats as well, and Hima would later admit that she had drawn two different lessons from racing against the globally famous athlete both times. “I’m very happy with my timing. She’s a big player and I got to learn both in the heats and the finals. She’s a perfect (finished product) athlete, I was playing football three years ago,” she said, putting her silver into perspective. Pacing the 400m comes with experience and tactical maturity. “There is no time to think in the final. You just got to run,” she said, , though you could see the mind ticking rapidly between the two ears that sported two distinct studs, a pretty black pearl, and a blingy bigger silver. Unstoppable speed can be extremely addictive. So just as well that Dutee Chand was lining up on the start line for the 100m. She twirled her hair behind her ear two nervous times. Later, she said, she was nervous because after the semis, her coach had told her off for messing the semis. Dutee, literally, surges like a wave on the track. Her coach’s instructions were that she had to take off still bending and work up the speed while running upright in one smooth motion. Read | Hima Das: The girl who chases time In the semis, she panicked and come straight too early. “The starting mistakes I improved in the finals. I ran bending for 30-40 metres and then found acceleration,” she said. Eventually, she missed out on gold by 0.02 seconds, which isn’t too little over 100m. But Dutee’s medal would be more dramatic. “I ran the last 30 metres almost with my eyes closed, I was pushing myself that much. At the end, I wasn’t sure if I even had the medal, so I didn’t grab a flag. Once they showed it on the screen, I felt confident enough to celebrate,” she said. Dutee has been circumspect for a large part of her seniors career, given that the prevalent hyperandrogenism rules cast her away from the Asian Games four years ago. “This was like an Olympics for me, because I missed the Asiad last time. But I’m happy everyone who said negative things about me will be happy I won for the country now,” she said. Her coach had pushed her training from four hours daily to six. “Everything hinged on how I ran. My timing was good. But I had to be fast enough to medal. I went through many emotions — confusion, then hope,” she recalled. And then, she ran like there was no tomorrow.<doc-sep>Image Source : AP The Indian women's 4x400m relay team after winning the gold medal. Gold rush for India continues on Day 12 of the Asian Games with the women's relay team comprising Hima Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and Vismaya Koroth adding the 13th gold to the tally with a superlative display of teamwork. India's 4x400m women's relay team today clinched its fifth consecutive gold medal in the Asian Games here to maintain a remarkable domination in this event in the continental showpiece. The Indian women's quartet of Hima Das, M R Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and Vismaya Velluva Koroth ran 3 minute and 28.72 seconds to claim the gold. Bahrain (3:30.61) and Vietnam (3:33.23) took the silver and bronze respectively. India has been winning the gold in this event since 2002 Asian Games. India's 4x400m men's relay team won a silver in the final event of athletics in the Asian Games here today. The Indian quartet of Kunhu Muhammed, Dharunn Ayyasamy, Mohd. Anas and Arokia Rajiv clocked 3:01.85 to finish behind Qatar who won gold in an Asian record time of 3:00.56. Japan took the bronze in 3:01.94. India had finished fourth in this event in the 2014 Asian Games.<doc-sep>
Hima Das won four medals at the Asian Games | Photo Credit: AP The Indian contingent recorded its best-ever total medal tally at the Asian Games, winning a total of 69 in the 2018 edition in Jakarta and Palembang, with the last set of medals coming on Saturday. The most recent of them was a bronze in the men's hockey event as India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 2-1 to win India's 30th bronze of the Games. A number of athletes shone brightly for India and one of them was athletics prodigy Hima Das, who won one gold and two silver medals at the Asiad, showing why she is regarded as one of the nation's stars to watch out for in the future. She hit the headlines after winning gold in the World U20 Championships earlier this year, finishing first in the women's 400m event and become the first Indian track athlete to be crowned World Champion at any level. At the Asian Games, she opened her account with a fantastic second-place finish in the women's 400m event, picking up the silver medal with a national record timing of 50.59 seconds behind Bahrain's Salwa Naser. She followed it up with a silver in the mixed 4x400m relay and added the icing on the cake with a gold medal in the women's 4x400m event. It was a truly fantastic outing for the youngster and it can be put into perspective by the fact that had she been competing as an individual country, she would have been placed 27th on the medal tally out of a total of 45 participating nations. She would have been tied with Iraq, who also have one gold and two silver medals. Additionally, her exploits mean that she has surpassed the overall tallies of India's immediate geographic neighbours. Nepal and Pakistan sit in 33rd and 34th place respectively, while the likes of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh did not pick up even a single medal in the competition.