Hima Das revealed this during an Instagram Live session with India batsman Suresh Raina.
"In India, people started following athletics after 2018. When the Asian Games happened in Jakarta after that people started following athletics in India. Everyone knows what athletics is, whenever fans chant your name, it gives you extra motivation," Das told Raina during the Instagram Live session.
At the 2018 Asian Games, Das qualified for the 400m final after clocking a timing 51.00 seconds in heat 1 and this enabled her to set a new Indian national record.
Then later in the tournament, she improved the national record to 50.79 seconds in the 400m final, but she had to settle with the silver medal.
She also won a silver medal in the 4 x 400 m mixed relay event at the Asian Games, however, this medal was later upgraded to gold after the Kenyan team was suspended due to doping violations.
Ace Sprinter Das had clinched five gold medals last year. She won the fifth medal at the Nove Mesto Athletics Meet on July 20, 2019.
She had clocked a timing of 52.09 seconds to complete the 400m race, registering her season-best timing.
Hima also won gold in 200m in Tabor Athletic Meet. Hima, known as 'Dhing Express', won three gold medals at different events - Klado Athletic Meet, Kunto Athletics Meet, and Poznan Athletics Grand Prix.
( With inputs from ANI )