Ahead of Tokyo 2020, Hima moves to 200m from 400m

Assam sprinter Hima Das has moved to the 200m category from 400m for theupcoming season, thereby putting her chances of qualifying for an individualevent at this year's Tokyo Olympics in major doubt, as per reports.

Das will switch back to 400m only next season as she hasmissed on training due to illness during the back end of last year and won't bephysically ready for the longer distance. The 20-year-old had missed out on theWorld Championships after suffering a debilitating back injury and thenstruggled with a recurring fever.

Her personal best in 200m is 23.10 seconds but the EntryStandard for the Games has been set at 22.80 seconds.

Athletics Federation of India's high-performance director VolkerHerrmann said that she does not have the basic conditioning levelshe needs.

"If we put her into 400 metre competitions again there would be a lot of pressure. She is still young and we don't want to rush anything," Herrmann added.