Did The Federation Mismanage Hima Das' Injuries?

Due to a nagging back problem, World junior champion Hima Das has been pushed out of the World Championships. The president of Athletics Federation of India confirmed that Hima won't be able to participate at the World Championships which are scheduled to happen in Doha. The event is to be held from September 27 to October 6.

“Unfortunately Hima will not be able to compete at the World Championships in Doha due to her back injury,” Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla told PTI.

On September 9, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) took out a list of seven women for the 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay races at the World Championships, and Hima Das was one of them.

Key Takeaways: 

• Due to a nagging back problem, World junior champion Hima Das has been pushed out of the World Championships. 
• The president of Athletics Federation of India confirmed that Hima won't be able to participate. 
• The event is to be held from September 27 to October 6 in Doha.
• Hima has been suffering from lower back pain after competing at the Asian Games last year.

Hima’s participation in the relay events became a matter of intense speculation. The concerns came after she was left out of the initial entries of Indian women athletes for the two relay races submitted by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) to the IAAF for the showpiece event.

Read also: These Meets Were Warm-Ups For The World Championships: Hima Das

Names of woman athletes like Jisna Mathew, MR Poovamma, Revathi Veeramani, Subha Venkatesan, V K Vismaya and Ramraj Vithya were entered in the list for the women’s 4x400m relay. However, Hima’s name was kept out of the list.

The 19-year-old Assamese runner was also not enlisted for the mixed 4x400m relay race. Jisna Mathew, MR Poovamma and V K Vismaya were named along with Jacob Amoj, Muhammed Anas and Noah Tom Nirmal.

Sprinter Dutee Chand's name was later added in the 100m. The move came after she received an invite from IAAF.

Hima's back injury

Hima has been suffering from lower back pain after competing at the Asian Games last year. She pulled out of the individual 400m heats during the Asian Championships in Doha in April midway through the race.

At that time, deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair had said that the injury was a lower back spasm (at L4 and L5, two lowest vertebrae in the lumbar spine).

Even while preparing for the World Championships, she ran just one 400m race. This happened during her training stint in Europe. Due to this, the sprinter is learned to be in pain while running longer distances.

Between July 2 and 20, Hima won four gold medals in 200m. She was also awarded one yellow metal in 400m at sub-par races in Europe. In August, she again won gold in a 300m race.

The Gold medallist and World Champion

Between July 2 and 20, Hima won four gold medals in 200m. She was also awarded one yellow metal in 400m at sub-par races in Europe. In August, she again won gold in a 300m race.

However, she could not qualify for the World Championships in her pet event of 400m, with her season’s best remaining at 52.09sec as compared to personal best of 50.79.

Udisha Srivastav is an intern with SheThePeople.TV