Assam’s sprint queen Hima Das has opted out of the IAAF Continental Cup to be held in Czech Republic from Saturday.
The reason for this is that the Athletics Federation of India wants her to rest after a hectic season which saw her become the junior world 400m champion.
Hima was initially among seven Indian athletes who were slated to take part in the season-ending IAAF event in Ostrava on September 8-9.
She has now been replaced by Australia’s Anneliese Rubbie as the second runner from Asia-Pacific.
Europe, Africa, America and Asia-Pacific will compete for the Continental Cup. There will be 18 events each in both men’s and women’s sections and the mixed 4x400m relay.
The top two athletes in the season’s rankings from each of the four regions take part in the Continental Cup.
“Yes, Hima is not running in the IAAF Continental Cup. The AFI has decided to give her rest. She has run so many races this year from the Commonwealth Games to the World Juniors and the Asian Games. It is not good to make her run so many races,” informed a top coach on Friday.