Vikas Gowda is amongst the most renowned Indian discus throwers. Vikas was born in Mysore and was brought up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His personal best throw was achieved in May 2007 in Salinas, which is 64.96 meters. He participated at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but couldn`t manage to reach to the finals. He also won a silver medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
Early Life of Vikas Gowda
Vikas Gowda was born on 5th July, in the year 1983 in Mysore. He is the son of Shive and Vijaya Gowda. His father coached the 1988 Indian Olympic Track and Field Team at the Seoul Olympics. Vikas stands around six feet nine inches and is presently majoring in Maths from the University of North Carolina.
Career of Vikas Gowda
Vikas Gowda has proved himself as a star athlete, winning numerous titles and awards at the college level (NCAA) and shattering many records in the course. Currently he is training under John Godina, 4 times World Champion, at the World Throwing Center. Vikas has won seven Maryland state titles, broke the state discus record in 2002, won the discus at the National Scholastic meet, Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year in Maryland, Track and Field News All-America in the discus and shot. He represented India in the World Junior Championships in 2002 and finished 12th. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he walked out with 14th rank. In 2005, Vikas Gowda finished 2nd in the Asian Championships in South Korea. In the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, Vikas finished 5th and 6th respectively.
In his first year in college, Vikas Gowda has participated at All-ACC in the discus, represented India at the Junior World Games, finishing eighth in the shot put and 12th in the discus. In the second year of graduation he received All-America honours in the discus by virtue of a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, ACC discus champion, NCAA East Regional runner-up in the discus, All-ACC in the indoor shot put with a third-place finish at the ACC Championships. At his junior year Vikas represented his country India as Olympian in the discus, finishing 14th overall;
Achievements of Vikas Gowda
Within a short period of time, Vikas Gowda, has achieved a lot. These include, won the silver medal in Discus Throw at the Asian Championships, 2005, ranked 6th in Discus at the Asian Games, 2006, ranked 5th in Shot Put and 6th in Discus at the Commonwealth Games, 2006, Earned All-America honours in discus throw with a runner-up performance at the NCAA Championships, Competed in the World Championships in the discus, finishing 14th overall, Ranked 19th in the world in the discus by the IAAF, became NCAA East Regional runner-up in the discus, named Most Outstanding Male Field Performer at the Penn Relays after winning the discus, has established a new Indian national record in the discus, won ACC discus championship, earned All-America honours in the indoor shot put with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, ACC champion in the indoor shot put, breaking the ACC meet record in the process, achieved Gold Medal in Asian All Star Athletics Meet, New Delhi, 2010, also a Silver Medal in the Asian Athletics Championship, 2010, and a Silver Medal in Commonwealth Games Delhi, 2010.
Vikas Gowda is supported by Olympic Gold Quest, which is a program of the Foundation of Sports and Games, initiated by Indian sporting legends Prakash Padukone and Geet Sethi.
