CHENNAI: Nine gold medals since August — five in 200m, one in 100m and two in 400m. Yet, on Wednesday, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) announced that Hima Das is not fit for the athletics World Championships starting in Doha on September 27.
The Assamese runner was the toast of the nation when she went on a medal-winning spree in the last two months. But nobody noticed that Hima had won those accolades in below-par events compared to her standards.
A look at her timings and other participants in those events is proof of that. Her best this season in 400m came on July 20 in Czech Republic where she clocked 52.09s — almost one-and-a-half seconds more than her personal best of 50.79.
Since the Federation Cup in March, Hima has been complaining about a lower back issue. She even pulled out of the 400m midway during the heats at the Asian Championships in Doha in April. But the federation maintained that the issue was minor.
The AFI included her in the squad announced for the Worlds on September 9. However, Hima’s participation in the relay events became a matter of speculation after she was reportedly left out of the initial entries of Indian women athletes for the two relay races submitted by AFI to the IAAF.
Jisna Mathew, MR Poovamma, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, VK Vismaya and Ramraj Vithya were entered for the women’s 4x400m relay. Hima’s absence is a setback for the Indian contingent as she was expected to play a crucial role for the women’s and mixed relay teams. Among them Vismaya was the season’s best runner with a timing of 52.12s. Poovamma (52.46s), who was part of the Asian Games gold-winning squad has been struggling with injury. Jisna’s SB is 52.96, Revathi’s 53.63 and Vithya 53.73.
According to an official, a replacement for Hima is yet to be decided. However, Anjali Devi, who won the 400m gold at the inter-state athletics meet, might have a slight chance if she maintains her timing of 51.53s at Lucknow once again at the confirmatory trials on Saturday in Patiala. The fact Anjali is a non-camper will make AFI think twice before entering her in the team events.