Hima Das, who is fondly called the Dhing Express, is an Indian athlete and sprinter. She presently holds the 400m Indian national record with a timing of 50.79 seconds- which she achieved at the 2018 Asian Games that were held in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Hima was born on 9th January 2000 in the village of Kandhulimari which is near Dhing, a little town in Assam. Her parents are farmers and she is their youngest of 5 children. Her first passion was football, as she developed interest in the beautiful game while studying in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya where she’d often play the sport with the boys in her school, slugging it out in mud pits by the rice fields of her village. In fact she was very keen to forge a career as a footballer. 

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However, the football scene in India, especially for girls, didn’t offer much scope for her to fulfil her potential, and football’s loss turned out to be the gain of athletics; her physical education teacher encouraged her to divert her attention to sprint running and she hasn’t looked back ever since. 

Hima first made a name for herself at the international stage in the 2018 Commonwealth Games where her 51.32 seconds finish in the 400m final set an U20 national record. Shortly after, she competed in the World U-20 championships held in Tampere, Finland where she won the 400m final to claim gold- becoming the first Indian sprinter to win a gold medal at an international track event. 

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She moved up to the senior level not soon after, taking part in the 2018 Asian Games, where set a national record on her way to claiming a silver medal in the 400m final- with a time of 50.79 seconds. She also won a silver medal in the 4X400 metre mixed relay. Hima enjoyed a fitting end to 2018 as the Government of India conferred upon her the Arjuna Award on 25th September 2018.

The following year, 2019, proved to be a golden one for her. It was barely two months after she had passed her 12th standard examinations that she bagged 5 gold medals in the space of just a month at various meets and events. She won her first two in Poland, first a 200m gold at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix on 2nd July and then at the Kutno Athletics Meet on the 7th. She then continued her streak in Czech Republic with another couple of 200m golds at the Kladno Athletics Meet and the Tabor Athletics Meet on 13th and 17th July respectively. She wrapped up her gold quest winning the 400m event in Nove Mesto on 20th July 2019. 

Sadly, a back injury sustained during the Asian Games a year before curtailed her progress and she had to skip the 2019 World Championships that were held in Doha due to that. 

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In the Federation Cup National Athletics Championship 2021, Hima enjoyed a record-breaking win bagging Gold in the 200m Women’s final with a timing of 23.21 seconds.

In February 2021, Hima was appointed a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Assam Police through the Assam Public Service Commission Direct Entry. She has also taken part in popular reality-TV show Kaun Banega Crorepati in November 2019.