World Junior 400-metre champion and Asian Games silver medallist Hima Das will focus on the 200m this season, which drastically reduces her chances of qualifying for an individual event for the Olympics. Hima will switch back to the 400 metres only next year as her training regimen was affected for the speed and endurance race because of a recurring fever, costing her three weeks of training over December and January. On top of that a back injury has set her back. Hima’s personal best in the 200 is 23.10 seconds, clocked in mid-2018 leaving her with a difficult qualifying time of 22.80 seconds.
To get a sense of the reasons behind this switch, nnis spoke with former Olympian Gurbachan Singh Randhawa.