Off-colour Gowda settles for silver
INCHEON: The Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold, one felt, would inspire discus thrower Vikas Gowda to stake claim to the top position at the continental games. Unfortunately for him, old rival Iran’s Ehsan Hadadi stood in the path.
Gowda, who had clinched the Asian Championships gold at Pune last year before going on to bag another at Glasgow this July, failed to complete a hat-trick of titles, losing out to Hadadi who had a gold medal-winning throw of 65.11m in his second attempt.
Gowda finished a distant second with a throw of 62.58, which fetched him silver.
Something seemed to be bothering the 6’8” Gowda as he fouled the last three attempts. “Having competed against Hadadi, I knew the enormity of the task. He had pushed me to second at the Guangzhou Asian Games as well and many more competitions.
“I also knew that I would have to do something extraordinary to get past 65m to have a chance at gold. I probably did that on my fifth throw, but it turned out to be a foul,” said Gowda.
The US-based athlete added he could have done a lot better but struggled with his technique on Tuesday. “I usually do not foul but today I fouled the last three throws. I was not able to strike rhythm... was trying to rush into throws which I normally don’t do.
“Maybe, it was because I had not been able to train in the run- up to the Games for about a fortnight owing to a shoulder injury. This is not the way I wanted to end my season,” he said.
Gowda’s silver was India’s ninth medal. They now have one gold, two silver and six bronze from track and field events, with the only top podium finish coming on Monday with Seema Punia clinching the top spot in discus.
MAYBE, IT WAS BECAUSE I HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO TRAIN FOR ABOUT A FORTNIGHT OWING TO A SHOULDER INJURY.
VIKAS GOWDA, discus thrower