NEW DELHI: Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, on Wednesday said he spoke to sprinter Hima Das and told her not to lose heart on missing the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
"Injuries are part & parcel of athlete's life. I spoke to @HimaDas8 and told her not to lose heart on missing the Olympics #Tokyo2020 and prepare for 2022 Asian Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games, and 2024 Paris Olympics," tweeted Rijiju.
Hima Das had sustained a hamstring injury while running in 100m heats. The women's 4x100m team clocked 44.15 seconds in the National Inter-State Athletics Championships and it was outside the targeted time of 43.03 seconds.
The sprinter also tried to compete in the women's 200m final, but she was not able to meet the qualification mark.
World Athletics will be publishing the list of qualified athletes for the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday.
Ace Indian sprinter Dutee Chand has qualified for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in both 100m and 200m races via the World Rankings quota on Wednesday.
22 spots were available in 100m and 15 spots in 200m via the World Rankings route. Dutee Chand's overall position of World No. 44 in 100m and World No. 51 in 200m were well within the ranks to make her eligible to fly to Tokyo next month.