Fact-Check: Claims About Hima Das Winning 6 Gold Medals Are False

The post has been circulating on the internet since 2019, a year when no international multi-sport events were held.

An old post shows Hima Das from the 2018 CWG and India at the top of the table.

(Photo: The Quint) 

A post is being widely circulated on the internet showing a picture of Indian sprinter Hima Das from the 2018 Commonwealth Games (CWG), along with a medal tally, to claim that Das has won six gold medals and that India's position in the world rankings is 1.

It doesn't clarify which event is being spoken about, but Das participated in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, United Kingdom. However, Das didn't win any medal at the sporting event.

Moreover, India finished at the fourth position with a total of 61 medals and not at the first position with 24 medals as shown in the viral post. Several countries mentioned in the table such as China, the United States, Russia, etc, are not even a part of the CWG.

Interestingly, this claim has been doing the rounds on the internet since 2019.

CLAIM

The post has been shared with a caption that claims that for the first time in world history, India is at the first position. It goes on to state that Hima Das has secured six gold medals, which helped India achieve this feat.

An archive of the post can be seen here. 

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot) 

Similar archives can be found here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

The claim suggests that India has won a total of 24 medals. However, at the 2022 Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, India won 61 medals, including 22 gold. Overall, India secured the fourth position in the tournament. These figures clearly prove that the medal tally shown in the psot is not one of the recent games.

The medal tally shows India at the fourth position with a total of 61 medals in CWG 2022.

(Source: CWG website/Screenshot)

We also found the other claim of Hima Das winning six medals at an international event to be false. Das made her international debut in 2018 at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. She created history by becoming the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a world championship.

Das made headlines in the 2018 Asian Games, where she bagged a silver medal in the women's 400 metres and mixed 4x400 metres events. She also won a gold medal in the women's 4x400 metres event.

The medal tally cannot be valid for Asian Games as it shows countries like the United States and Australia, which are not part of the Asian continent.

In 2019, the Indian athlete was in top form and bagged five gold medals in 200-metre events at the Poznan Athletics Grand Prix in Poland, Kutno Athletics Meet, Kladno Athletics Meet in Czech Republic, Tabor Athletics Meet, and Mezinarodni Atleticky Mitink.

These are five golds that Das won at different events. This clearly shows that the claim of the athlete winning six golds at a single event is false.

Recently, on 5 August, Das missed out on her chance to qualify for the finals by 0.01s in the 200 metres event of the 2022 CWG.

Das is yet to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games or the Olympics.

Evidently, an unrelated medal tally with the picture of Hima Das is being shared with fake claims.

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