Throwback to '58

The towering but extremely polite giant, Vikas Gowda, finally broke the shackles and achieved a gold medal that he has been chasing for long. Gowda, who turned 31 on July 5, cleared a distance of 63.64m on a wet day when gripping the disc was not the easiest of jobs.

After making the finals with just one throw a day earlier, Gowda’s winning throw in the final came in the third of his six throws. He was lying third after the first two rounds, but unleashed his biggest effort of the day and did not have to throw again.

Defending champion Ben Harradine of Australia finished fourth behind silver and bronze medal winners, Apostolos Parellis of Cyprus (63.32m) and Jason Morgan of Jamaica (62.34m), respectively.

The gold medal also ended India’s 56-year-old long gold drought in men’s athletics at the Commonwealth Games. The first and only time an Indian won an athletics gold was by the legendary Milkha Singh, who won the 440 yards at the 1958 Games in Cardiff, Wales. The Indian women, however, did win two gold – Krishna Poonia in women’s discus and the women’s 4x400m relay team – in 2010.

“The achievement will take sometime to sink in,” said Gowda when told the gold came 56 years after Milkha’s effort. “It is incredible that we have not won a gold in athletics for so long. I am humbled,” he said.

Throwers always fear wet weather simply because of the difficult they face in getting a better grip. But Gowda was ready for this, knowing that the fickle weather in the UK could always bring in unexpected rain. He was not afraid, nor unhappy, when it began to rain at Hampden Park.

He said, “When I walked out and saw the rain I knew it was going to disrupt a lot of people but I have trained for that. I have trained in rain. I have trained with a wet ring,” he said.

“No words can describe it. I am so happy this has been on my calendar for the whole year. I was second last time in Delhi, so I definitely wanted to improve upon that. And now, I am so glad it is over, it is a very stressful process.”

As for his achievement and journey to the gold medal, Gowda, said, “I always liked sport and athletics and my father was the reason I came into it,” he recalled. “My father brought me to athletics and it was also a difficult choice between shot put and discus. And I went to the US to study and train for athletics long back. I also won the 2006 NCAA title in 2006.”

Vikas’s father, Shive Gowda, a former decathlete, was a well-known coach at the Kanteerva Stadium in Bangalore in the 1980s. Amongst his trainees were the famous Ashwini Nachappa, and her sister, Pushpa, and he even accompanied the Indian team to the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

It was there he realised that he could find a better future for himself and his growing son, Vikas. So in 1989, when Vikas was still six, Shive left his bank job and coaching in India to move his family from Mysore to Maryland in the US.

Vikas, always tall for his age, began with long jump and later even played American football. But seeing his height and huge build, Shive moved his son to discus throw, which was to become his life thereafter.

Gowda’s first big appearance for India was the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, for which he came in from US. “I was sixth but it was a great experience and I realised what big international Games were,” he said.

But he was willing to work hard. “After the Beijing Olympics, where I could not make the final, I had a lot of injuries and that was a testing time,” he said.

After moving to the US, the next big move for Vikas came when he went with his father to the John Godina Throwing Centre in Arizona. He struggled with knee injury after the Beijing Games.

Godina was one of America’s leading shot putters – he also did discus occasionally – with three world titles besides a silver at Atlanta Olympics and a bronze in Sydney in 2000.

Then, the contribution by Olympic Gold Quest was the other positive in his life. “They started backing me from late 2009 and that gave me the much-needed push,” Gowda said. The rest is history.

Talking of his progress, which has included appearances in the 2012 London Olympics finals and the last two World Championships, he said he has improved in four years the 2010 CWG silver.

“I am four years older and four years better. I threw 63.69m in Delhi and 63.64 today even in these conditions, so I am pleased with that.”?

Gowda’s season's best is 65.62m and personal best is 66.68m achieved in India in 2012.

Gowda’s next plan is to focus on the upcoming Asian Games and Diamond League meetings.?? “I have the Asian Games coming up and a couple of Diamond League series games. So I will be going for the gold there too.”