<p>Hima Das, who has been away from her forte 400-metre for the last six years, may end that sabbatical at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi on April 11. </p>.<p>The 26-year-old athlete, who set the women's 400m national record at 50.79 seconds for a silver medal at the Asian Games 2018, entered her name for both 200m and 400m while representing her state Assam.</p>.<p>Hima -- once touted as India's biggest medal hope in the 400m with gold medal at the 2018 World U-20 Championships followed by a gold and a silver at the 2018 Asian Games -- skipped the entire 2025 season following her suspension by NADA for whereabouts failure in 2024.</p>.<p>Hima interestingly entered her name for the Indian Open 400m competition in Thiruvananthapuram last month but didn't show up for the event. </p>.<p>The athlete, however, told DH that she would compete at the Delhi meet but would decide on her 400m participation on the day of the competition.</p>.<p>Hima, dubbed the Dhing Express, curiously moved to sprint events post-COVID-19 as a mysterious injury was cited as the reason. The runner saw limited success with a national record in women's 4x100m relay (in 2021) and a fourth-placed finish in the same event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.</p>.<p><strong>Relay team misses</strong></p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Indian 4x100m mixed relay team missed out on the World Relay Championships berth by a spot despite breaking the national record at the Indian Open Relays late last month. </p>.<p>The Indian quartet, which also featured Karnataka's Unnathi Aiyappa, clocked 42.30 seconds to improve their ranking to 19th. The qualification seemed certain at that point as the top 24 would have qualified but six nations, including the USA (40.84), set faster timings in the last week to push India to the 25th spot. </p>.<p>India, however, are set to compete in the women's 4x100, men's and mixed 4x400m of the World Relays, in Gaborone, Bostwana on May 2-3.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Race walker's visa delay</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Indian race walkers team are all set to reach Brasilia a day before the Race Walking Team Championships (April 12) following a delay in visa clearance.</p>.<p>The 12-athlete squad -- which included national record holders Ram Baboo, Sandeep Kumar, Akshdeep Singh, Priyanka and Manju Rani -- assembled in New Delhi for their flight to Brazil, a 30-odd hour journey following their camp in SAI Bengaluru.</p>.<p>The delay in departure will give the Indian race walkers no time to acclimatise to the local conditions. </p>
<p>Hima Das, who has been away from her forte 400-metre for the last six years, may end that sabbatical at the Indian Athletics Series 3 in New Delhi on April 11. </p>.<p>The 26-year-old athlete, who set the women's 400m national record at 50.79 seconds for a silver medal at the Asian Games 2018, entered her name for both 200m and 400m while representing her state Assam.</p>.<p>Hima -- once touted as India's biggest medal hope in the 400m with gold medal at the 2018 World U-20 Championships followed by a gold and a silver at the 2018 Asian Games -- skipped the entire 2025 season following her suspension by NADA for whereabouts failure in 2024.</p>.<p>Hima interestingly entered her name for the Indian Open 400m competition in Thiruvananthapuram last month but didn't show up for the event. </p>.<p>The athlete, however, told DH that she would compete at the Delhi meet but would decide on her 400m participation on the day of the competition.</p>.<p>Hima, dubbed the Dhing Express, curiously moved to sprint events post-COVID-19 as a mysterious injury was cited as the reason. The runner saw limited success with a national record in women's 4x100m relay (in 2021) and a fourth-placed finish in the same event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.</p>.<p><strong>Relay team misses</strong></p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Indian 4x100m mixed relay team missed out on the World Relay Championships berth by a spot despite breaking the national record at the Indian Open Relays late last month. </p>.<p>The Indian quartet, which also featured Karnataka's Unnathi Aiyappa, clocked 42.30 seconds to improve their ranking to 19th. The qualification seemed certain at that point as the top 24 would have qualified but six nations, including the USA (40.84), set faster timings in the last week to push India to the 25th spot. </p>.<p>India, however, are set to compete in the women's 4x100, men's and mixed 4x400m of the World Relays, in Gaborone, Bostwana on May 2-3.</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Race walker's visa delay</p>.<p>Meanwhile, the Indian race walkers team are all set to reach Brasilia a day before the Race Walking Team Championships (April 12) following a delay in visa clearance.</p>.<p>The 12-athlete squad -- which included national record holders Ram Baboo, Sandeep Kumar, Akshdeep Singh, Priyanka and Manju Rani -- assembled in New Delhi for their flight to Brazil, a 30-odd hour journey following their camp in SAI Bengaluru.</p>.<p>The delay in departure will give the Indian race walkers no time to acclimatise to the local conditions. </p>