It feels good to improve timings and create records, says Hima Das

09/18/2018

After her recent success at the Asian Games in Indonesia, Indian athlete Hima Das has mentioned that improving timings and creating records makes her feel good. The Assam athlete also mentioned that she was not expecting to get nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award this year.

This year a total of 20 players have been nominated for the Arjuna Award, which will be ultimately approved by the Sports Minister of India Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Although she has performed well at various international events, Hima Das was not expecting a nomination for the Arjuna Award this year itself. She further mentioned that she wants to give tough competition to her opponents and keep on improving with time.

“I thrive in competition, it feels good to improve timings and create records,” Hima told PTI.

“I didn't expect to win the Arjuna this year. I was thinking maybe next year, I will be considered."

Hima returned with three medals from the Asian Games which included one gold and two silvers. She bagged a gold in the 4x400m women's event while clinched a silver in the mixed 4x400m event and 400m singles event. Hima also won a gold medal at the U-20 World Championship in Finland.

“The season is over now. Next year, there is South Asian Games, Asian Championship and World Championship, so how to approach the different events and how to prepare I will do it during training,” she said.

"The Finland (World Junior Championship) race remains one of my favourites and also the semifinal at Asian Games when it had started raining. There are few targets in my mind. I will do that one by one. People expect a lot from me now and I will achieve that. I scored 50.79 at Asian Games, so even 50.78 is a step ahead."

Hima also commented on the contributions of coach Galina Burakhina, stating that she had been very supportive to the athletes. She also clarified her participation in the National Open Athletics Championships, which will be held in Bhubaneswar on September 25.

“She is very supportive. She herself is an Olympian and sometimes we also don't realise her methods and later we come to know why we did a particular training. So we always come prepared everyday for the challenge that she will throw at us,” the Assam girl said.

“At this moment, I haven't decided if I will participate in the open Nationals. Let's see."