Local girl Hima Das to lead India’s athletics team for U-20 Championships at Finland

Indian and Assam sprinter Hima Das will lead an athletics team at the International Association of Athletics Federations Under-20 World Junior Championships which will be held at Tampere, Finland from July 10 to 15.

The Assamese athlete, who will lead a team of 31 members, is a medal contender in the flagship junior event and has emerged as the fastest athlete in 200m and 400m in India.

Das finished at the sixth position in 400m event at the Commonwealth Games in April and won the 400m gold at the Inter State Senior Athletics Championships in Guwahati last month.

Believed to be in a good form, Hima Das is one of the favourites for the Junior Worlds with her winning time of 51.13 seconds, with only Sydney McLaughlin of USA having recorded a faster time this year.

Apart from Das, several athletes like M Sreeshankar, Satyanathan Lokesh, Sahil Silwal, Ashish Jhakar and Damneet Singh are also national favourites expected to perform well at the Championship.