Hima Das to miss Asian Games

The sprinter is nursing an injury and will miss the inter-state athletics meet starting in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.

Hima Das, who has competed in only two events this season, has been ruled out of the Asian Games with a hamstring injury, India’s athletics chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair said on Wednesday.

Hima Das became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at any track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships in 2018 (PTI)

The Jakarta Asian Games 400m silver medallist was injured at the Indian Grand Prix-4 on April 15 and has not competed since then. She will miss the Inter-State Athletics Championships here, the final trials for the Hangzhou Games.

“She was injured a day before the Indian Grand Prix-4 in Bengaluru. She had to withdraw with a hamstring injury and back problem. AFI is doing medical investigation and planning her treatment. She is not able to compete here and as per the policy of AFI, I believe she will not be able to participate in the Asian Games,” Nair said.

The Assam sprinter had a stellar Asian Games in 2018 and won three medals. Besides individual silver in 400m, she was part of teams that won women's 4x400m gold and mixed 4x400m silver.

The women's 4x400m relay has been one of India's strengths at the Asian Games, but Nair admitted it will be tough to repeat the feat this time.

“I don't know the reason (below par-performance of women's relay team) but AFI is having a lot of discussion on women's 4x400m relay team because we had a history of winning four Asian Games gold medals. Certainly, our stock in the national team is not that good to win gold in relay but I expect some more athletes will be joining us after the Inter-State and then we will plan for Asian Games. To my understanding, there are some very good athletes staying outside (of national camp). If they join us, we will take them with the team. If they don’t, we can’t.”