June 15, 2020: Athlete Hima Das on Monday has been nominated for the Khel Ratna award; India’s highest sporting honour, by the state government of Assam.

As per reports, Assam sports secretary Dulal Chandra Das sent the letter of recommendation to the Sports Ministry on June 5. The 20-year-old from Dhing village in Assam is one of the youngest nominees for Khel Ratna this year.

She’s the first Indian track athlete to win a global title at U20 World Championship in Tampere, Finland in 2018, Hima will compete with ace javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, Table Tennis player Manika Batra, women's hockey captain Rani Rampal and cricketer Rohit Sharma for country's highest sporting honour.

She has won a number of gold medals at smaller events in 2019 season and was also invited to compete at the Doha World Championship but a back injury ruled her out of the prestigious championship.

Hima is already a recipient of Arjuna Award, which she received in 2018.