2019-08-03_Outlook

from an injury. “She didn’t

go all out in the 400m race as it

was her first after recovering from a

back injury she sustained during the Asian Cha m­

pionships in April in Doha. It should also be rem­

embered that she is competing in 200m races only

to improve her pet event, 400m,” emphasises

Nipon. Hima, the 400m national record holder,

rem ains modest despite the golden streak, perhaps

aware of sterner tests ahead, including qualification

for the upcoming World Championships (Sept­

ember 27­ October 6, Doha) and the 2020 Olympics

(July 24­August 9, Tokyo). “There’s no particular

reason for winning these gold medals. This is only

the warm up season for me and I am simply run­

ning. My job is to run. It’s no big deal [winning

RACE COURSE

54 OUTLOOK 5 August 2019

by Qaiser Mohammad Ali

T

HE great Western cliche of the ‘great Ind­

ian rope trick’ is passe. Its 21st century

successor, the ‘great Indian masala trick’,

is well and truly on track—quite literally.

Well, Indian masalas are seemingly spic­

ing up performances of top Indian track

and field athletes, including in­form sprinter

Hima Das, as they train for a few impending big

events. These athletes, now training at a pre­

paratory camp in Poland with eye on Septem­

ber’s World Championships and the 2020 Olym­

pic Games, have carried different kinds of spices

from India, which are being used daily to satiate

palates hankering for desi food, says Raj Mohan

M.K., an assistant coach for the quarter­milers,

from the Olympic Sports Centre in Spala.

Hima, the reigning world under­20 400m cham­

pion from Dhing village in Assam's Nagaon district,

has been the toast of the season—thanks partly to

the “motivation” she received from Indian spices,

quips Mohan. She won five gold medals in 19 days,

between July 2 and 20. The first four were 200m

races; in the fourth one she registered her season’s

best of 23.25 sec at Tabor Grand Prix in the Czech

Republic on July 17. Three days later, she recorded

her season’s best time of 52.09 sec in 400m—her

first competitive race since April—at

the Nove Mesto nad Metuji Grand

Prix, also in the Czech Republic.

Guwahati­based coach Nipon

Das, who is credited with spotting

Hima, says it should be remem­

bered that she was returning

Gold: 50 Per Cent, T he Rest To Qualify

Coaches are

trying for

Hima’s entry

in tougher

races for a

qualification

for Doha.

They are

confident

she’ll get into

Olympics too.

Hima’s fabulous run in Europe is but a warm­up for tests with the world’s best. And she knows it.

PTI