Ever since she was a kid, Hima Das woke up every morning before the crack of dawn and would go to the local grazing ground in a remote Assam village. With no proper gear or even a playground, she practiced running at this grazing ground, around 50 metres from her house, before the villagers let their cattle loose post sunrise.

Daughter of rice farmers, the same teenager left the world awestruck when she ran at a track and field stadium in Finland during the 400 metre final at the U-20 World Championships, becoming the first Indian sprinter to win a gold medal at an international track event.

The 18-year-old from Kandhulimari village in Dhing -- a small town situated approximately 20 km from Nagaon -- followed that with a gold in the women's 4x400 metres and silver medals in the women's 400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres events at the recently-concluded Asian Games at Jakarta, Indonesia.