AFI congratulates Hima Das in controversial tweet, later apologises
Das is the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships.
Tampere: Hima Das on Thursday scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman to win a gold at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships as she clinched the top spot in the women's 400m final race on the third day of competitions.
The 18-year-old Das, a pre-tournament favourite, clocked 51.46s to win the gold.
While wishes were flowing in for Hima from all over India, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) congratulated her in a controversial tweet.
“#HimaDas speking to media after her SF win at #iaaftampere2018 @iaaforg Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u #HimaDas Keep rocking & yeah,try ur best in final! @ioaindia @IndianOlympians @TejaswinShankar @PTI_News @StarSportsIndia @hotstartweets,” the tweet read.
#HimaDas speking to media after her SF win at #iaaftampere2018 @iaaforg Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u #HimaDas Keep rocking & yeah,try ur best in final! @ioaindia @IndianOlympians @TejaswinShankar @PTI_News @StarSportsIndia @hotstartweets pic.twitter.com/N3PdEamJen
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 12, 2018
Twitterati became furious on this, and matters went from bad to worse.
She has landed in Tampere for displaying her talent in track and not in English😠Its shame on you @afiindia for what you said🤥
— Rohith Ram (@Rohithp6) July 12, 2018
Why should we even talk abt her English at all
— Anil Sehrawat (@anilksehrawat) July 12, 2018
Why do you even need to mention not so fluent in English but, why does an athlete even need to know English.
— Manuarora6699 (@Manuarora66991) July 12, 2018
However, the AFI later apologised for the same.
सà¤à¥€ à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¤¿à¤¯à¥‹à¤‚ से कà¥à¤·à¤®à¤¾ अà¤-र हमारी à¤à¤• TWEET से आप आहत हà¥à¤ है!असल उदà¥à¤¦à¥‡à¤¶à¥à¤¯ यह दरà¥à¤¶à¤¾à¤¨à¤¾ था कि हमारी धाविका किसी à¤à¥€ कठनाई से नहीं घबराती, मैदान के अंदर या बाहर! छोटे से à¤-ाà¤à¤µ से आने के बावजूद, विदेश में अंà¤-à¥à¤°à¥‡à¤œà¥€ पतà¥à¤°à¤•à¤¾à¤° से बेà¤à¤¿à¤à¤• बात की! à¤à¤• बार फिर उनसे कà¥à¤·à¤®à¤¾ जो नाराज हैं, जय हिनà¥à¤¦!
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 13, 2018
सà¤à¥€ à¤à¤¾à¤°à¤¤à¤µà¤¾à¤¸à¤¿à¤¯à¥‹à¤‚ से कà¥à¤·à¤®à¤¾ अà¤-र हमारी à¤à¤• TWEET से आप आहत हà¥à¤ है!असल उदà¥à¤¦à¥‡à¤¶à¥à¤¯ यह दरà¥à¤¶à¤¾à¤¨à¤¾ था कि हमारी धाविका किसी à¤à¥€ कठनाई से नहीं घबराती, मैदान के अंदर या बाहर! छोटे से à¤-ाà¤à¤µ से आने के बावजूद, विदेश में अंà¤-à¥à¤°à¥‡à¤œà¥€ पतà¥à¤°à¤•à¤¾à¤° से बेà¤à¤¿à¤à¤• बात की! à¤à¤• बार फिर उनसे कà¥à¤·à¤®à¤¾ जो नाराज हैं, जय हिनà¥à¤¦!
— Athletics Federation of India (@afiindia) July 13, 2018
Das joined the illustrious company of star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, who won a gold in Poland in the last edition in 2016 in a world record effort. In fact, Das is the first Indian track athlete to have won a medal in the history of this competition.
The previous medal winners at the World Junior Championships were Seema Punia (bronze in discus in 2002) and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon (bronze in discus in 2014).
Das was a favourite to win gold as she is the U-20 season leader in this quarter-mile event. Das clocked an Indian U-20 record of 51.32 seconds to finish sixth in the Commonwealth Games 400m final in Gold Coast in April.