Sprinter Hima Das will keep running 400 metres, squashing speculation that she would give up her speciality event to concentrate only on 200 metres.

“I am definitely not giving up 400 metres. It’s still very much on. There is no question about that,” Hima told The Telegraph from Patiala.

Hima came into the spotlight two years ago by winning the historic 400 metres gold in the U-20 World Championships in Finland, followed by a silver in the same event at the Jakarta Asian Games with a national record timing of 50.79 seconds.

But last year she suffered a back injury during the Asian Athletics Championships in April. She came back from the injury to win five gold medals in 19 days on the European track and field arena. Of those, only one was in 400 metres.

Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille Sumariwalla feels such speculation is a distraction to her training. “Can you people just leave her alone? She is just 20 and everyone seems to be hell bent on destroying her by speculating on her 400-metre future. She has just started training and let her do that in peace. It’s her coaches who would decide what’s best for her,” Sumariwalla said.

Hima’s back injury again flared up, ruling her out of the World Championships in Doha from September 27 to October 6 last year.

“Yes, last year was not good for me. The injury kept me out. But now I have recovered. I would say I am 90 per cent fit,” she said.

The AFI had plans to start the season tentatively on September 12, but with coronavirus cases on the rise, that seems unlikely.

“The pandemic situation is not looking good, so I do not know whether the season will start in September. But if you ask me, if the season starts tomorrow, I am ready to run. Unless I do competitive running, how will I know where I stand?” the 20-year-old Dhing Express said.

Hima is yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and postponement of the Games by a year has been a blessing for her. “It’s good that the Olympics got postponed by a year. But I am not thinking about it right now,” she said.

Hima hasn’t been to her home for the last eight months and doesn’t have any immediate plans either to visit Dhing in Assam.

“There’s a spike in Covid-19 cases in Assam, too. There’s no point going home now. It’s better to stay put where you are than to travel,” she signed off.