Hima wins gold and AFI talks about her English

NEW DELHI: Amid a phenomenal international track and field performance Thursday by 18-year-old Hima Das, the

Athletics Federation of India

(

AFI

) – a national sports body no less – decided to mention the athlete’s

English

skills in what was supposed to be a congratulatory tweet.

Das scripted history on Thursday as she clinched the gold medal in the 400m final - at the IAAF World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Tampere, Finland - becoming the first Indian athlete ever to do so in a track event. She won plaudits from a range of personalities, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and from AFI. And what did AFI choose to say?

This: “Hima Das speking to media after her SF win at #iaaftampere2018 @iaaforg Not so fluent in English but she gave her best there too. So proud of u #HimaDas Keep rocking & yeah,try ur best in final!”


“Not so fluent in English”?? Really, AFI?

First, let’s take a second to point out a mistake in AFI’s tweet itself. The tweet had the word “speking” in it. Sure, even if it were a typo, that’s just not what one expects from a national body’s tweets.

Second, was the 400-metre race an English-speaking contest?

AFI was rightly roasted on Twitter for belittling Hima’s terrific achievement with that ridiculous addition to their congratulatory tweet.






Twitter was quick to point out that while AFI was commenting on Hima's fluency in English, their own skills were suspect.




After coming under so much blowback on Twitter, AFI attempted a clarification. It was weak. It first said, “you need to read the tweet again & understand it well & stop trolling” and then said: "She comes from a very humble background & can not even speak Hindi fluently, we are applauding her effort to face journalists & trying her best to speak in English."



Again, AFI’s own English skills, or their lack thereof, are on full display even in this tweet.

Subsequently, AFI issued an apology and also clarified that it's intention was to praise the skills of Hima to handle any difficult situation with ease.


Watch Hima’s phenomenal victory lap here.

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