Star sprinter Hima Das on Saturday suffered a hamstring injury during the 100m heats at the ongoing National Inter-State Athletics Championships here, leaving her on the verge of missing out on the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. (More Sports News)
Hima, who has had a lower back injury problem for a long time, did not start in the 100m final due to the injury though she qualified for it. She did complete her heat race and finished third with a timing of 12.01 seconds during the morning session.
"We hope Hima Das recovers ASAP after muscle pull during 100m heats this morning at Inter-State meet," the Athletics Federation of Indian wrote on its twitter handle.
The severity of her injury could not be ascertained officially, but it is learnt that the Assam athlete is highly unlikely to run the 200m race scheduled on Sunday as well as the women's 4x100m relay final on June 29.
She had run her personal best of 20.88 seconds in 200m at the Indian Grand Prix 4 but missed the automatic qualification mark of 20.80 seconds.
Hima's injury is also a big blow to 4x100m women's relay team's qualification bid for the Tokyo Games as she is a vital member of the quartet, also comprising Dutee Chand, S Dhanalakshmi and Archana Suseendran.
The ongoing meet is the last chance for the Indian athletes to qualify for Tokyo Olympics which opens on July 23.