Fact Check: Hima Das did not break famous sprinter Milkha Singh’s record, viral claim is false
The viral post claiming to break the record of famous sprinter Milkha Singh by winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 is fake. Hima Das has not won a single medal in the Commonwealth Games nor has she broken any record of Milkha Singh during her sports career so far.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: August 18, 2022
New Delhi (Vishvas News). After the success of Indian athletes at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK, a post is going viral on social media claiming that Indian athlete Hima Das has achieved new success by breaking the record of famous sprinter Milkha Singh in the 400m race.
Vishvas News in its investigation found this claim to be false. Hima Das participated in the 200m and 4X100m relay race in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and did not break any of Milkha Singh’s records.
What is Viral?
Sharing the post (archive link) with Hima Das’s picture, social media user ‘Sunil Astay’ claimed, “Many congratulations to Bahujan daughter Hima Das, who broke the world-famous Milkha Singh’s record in 400 meters race.”
Several other users have shared the same claim with the same picture on different social media platforms.
Investigation
Recently, Commonwealth Games 2022 were held in Birmingham, the UK and Hima Das could not win any medal in it. According to the news reports, Hima Das tried her best to make it to the final round of 200 meters, but she could not manage to do so.
In the Commonwealth Games 2022, India got a total of 61 medals, including 22 gold, 16 silver, and 23 bronze medals. With a total of 66 medals, India finished third behind Australia and England.
In news search, we could not find any such report mentioning Hima Das breaking Milkha Singh’s record. Information about Milkha Singh’s record has been given in the report published on the website of olympics.com. Singh has three records to his name.
The first pertains to running a 200m run in 20.7 seconds.
The second record is to complete the 400 meters race in 45.6 seconds.
The third record is to complete the relay of 4X400 meters in 3 minutes 10.3 seconds.
According to the information given on the website, Hima Das completed the 200 meters race in 22.88 seconds, while the 400 meters race was completed in 50.79 seconds. Hima Das’s timing is 3 minutes 15.71 seconds in the relay race of 4×400 meters.
It is clear from the data that Hima Das has not been able to break the record of famous sprinter Milkha Singh in her sports career so far, as claimed in the viral post. Nor did Hima Das manage to win any medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Even before this, a video in the name of Hima Das went viral, claiming that she has been successful in winning gold in the Commonwealth. In our investigation, this claim turned out to be false. The relevant fact check report can be read by clicking here.
Viplov Kumar of Jagran.com’s Sports Desk confirmed that the viral claim is false. Hima Das could not win a single medal in this Commonwealth Games nor has she broken any record of Milkha Singh.
The user who shared the viral video with a false claim is followed by more than 19 thousand people on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral post claiming to break the record of famous sprinter Milkha Singh by winning the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games 2022 is fake. Hima Das has not won a single medal in the Commonwealth Games nor has she broken any record of Milkha Singh during her sports career so far.