GUWAHATI:
Due to injury, Hima Das' position in the women's 100m relay final on Tuesday is set to be filled by Karnataka's AT Dhaneshwari, as the Indian sprinter makes a final attempt for Olympic qualifying during the current National Inter-State Championships in Patiala.
The foursome will also include national record holder Dutee Chand, Dhanalakshmi, and Archana Suseendran. Dutee finished fourth and Archana third in Saturday's final.
Sprinter Hima Das suffered a muscular injury during the 100m heats of the current National Inter-State Athletics Championships in Patiala on Saturday.
Her injury's severity could not be determined.
"We hope Hima Das recovers ASAP after muscle pull during 100m heats this morning at Inter-State meet," the Athletics Federation informed on Twitter.
The great Indian sprinter will miss the Tokyo Olympics unless she makes a "dramatic recovery" in the next 48 hours.
Hima, who is on the verge of losing out on the Tokyo Olympics since she has yet to qualify, placed third in heat 3 with a time of 12.01 seconds. She also qualified for the final, which will be contested on Saturday evening, but her participation in the championship battle is still uncertain.
The Indian women's 4x100m relay team will need to run faster than "43.04 seconds" to qualify for the Olympics, which commence on July 23.
If Hima's injury is severe, it will be a major setback for the 4x100m women's relay team's qualification campaign for the Tokyo Games, since she is an important component of the quartet, which also includes Dutee Chand, Dhanalakshmi, and Archana Suseendran.
Hima will most likely not make it to Tokyo if she does not make the relay team. However, the Assamese sprinter is also attempting to qualify for the 200m event at the Olympics.
Hima, who has struggled with lower-body injuries for a long time, recorded a personal best of 22.88 seconds in the 200m at the IGP 4 but fell short of the automatic qualification standard of 22.80 seconds. Hima and Dutee have one more chance to qualify for the Tokyo Games in the current competition.
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