Vikas Gowda

Vikas Shive Gowda (born 5 July 1983) is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter.[3] Born in Mysore, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His father, Shive, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padma Shri awardee in 2017.

Vikas Gowda
Gowda in 2011
Personal information
Full nameVikas Shive Gowda
NationalityIndian
Born (1983-07-05) 5 July 1983
Mysore, Karnataka, India[1]
Height205 cm (6 ft 9 in)[2]
Weight135 kg (298 lb) (2016)[2]
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)Discus throw
ClubNorth Carolina Tar Heels[1]
TeamIndia
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)66.28 m NR
(April 2012)
Medal record
Representing  India
Asian Games
2014 IncheonDiscus
2010 GuangzhouDiscus
Commonwealth Games
2014 GlasgowDiscus
2010 New DelhiDiscus
Asian Championships
2013 PuneDiscus
2015 WuhanDiscus
2011 KobeDiscus
2005 IncheonDiscus
2017 BhubaneswarDiscus
Updated on 6 July 2017.

He is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the 2006 US NCAA National Champion in discus.[4]

His personal best throw is 66.28 meters which is also Indian national record in discus throw, achieved in 2012. He contested at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but failed to reach the finals after finishing 22nd in the qualifiers, with a throw of 60.69 m. In 2012 London Olympics, Vikas qualified for the finals, at the fifth place, with a throw of 65.20 m [5][6] and finished eighth in the final.

He won his first gold medal in Asian Championships in 2013 in Pune, with a throw of 64.90 meters.[7][8] He won the discus throw event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which made him the second Indian man to win a Commonwealth gold medal, 56 years after Milkha Singh.[9]

After the qualification standard was lowered, he qualified for the 2016 Olympics in the discus, making this his fourth Olympics.[10]

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  India
2002 World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 8th Shot put (6 kg) 19.30 m
12th Discus (1.75 kg) 54.46 m
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 15th Discus 61.39 m
2005 Asian Championships Incheon, South Korea 2nd Discus 62.84 m
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 5th Shot put 18.46 m
6th Discus 60.08 m
Asian Games Doha, Qatar 6th Discus 58.28 m
2008 Olympic Games Beijing, China 22nd Discus 60.69 m
2010 Asian Games Guangzhou, China 3rd Discus 63.13 m
Commonwealth Games New Delhi, India 2nd Discus 63.69 m
2011 Asian Championships Kobe, Japan 2nd Discus 61.58 m
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 7th Discus 64.05 m
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 8th Discus 64.79 m
2013 Asian Championships Pune, India 1st Discus 64.90 m
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 1st Discus 63.64 m
Asian Games Incheon, South Korea 2nd Discus 62.58 m
2015 Asian Championships Wuhan, China 1st Discus 62.03 m
World Championships Beijing, China 9th Discus 62.24 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 28th (q) Discus 58.99 m
2017 Asian Championships Bhubaneswar, India 3rd Discus 60.81 m

References
  1. Vikas Gowda. sports-reference.com
  2. Vikas Gowda. rio2016.com
  3. Vikas Gowda. IAAF
  4. Tar Heels' Vikas Gowda wins discus title. Tar Heel Times (10 June 2006)
  5. "Gowda makes the cut for the discus throw final". The Times Of India. 6 August 2012.
  6. "London Olympics 2012 Discus Throw Results". london2012.com/. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  7. "Vikas Gowda wins first gold for India at Asian Athletics Championships". The Times Of India. 4 July 2013.
  8. Srinivasan, Kamesh (6 August 2012). "Gowda makes the cut for discus throw final". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  9. "Vikas Gowda is first Indian man to clinch athletics gold in 56 years". India Today. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  10. "Gowda qualifies for Olympics after revision of entry standards". 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
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