 Gowda in 2011 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Vikas Shive Gowda |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Born | 5 July 1983 Mysore, Karnataka, India[1] |
| Height | 205 cm (6 ft 9 in)[2] |
| Weight | 133 kg (293 lb) (2016)[2] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Discus throw |
| Club | North Carolina Tar Heels[1] |
| Team | India |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | 66.28 m NR (April 2012) |
| Updated on 29 March 2024 | |
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 Gowda, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padma Shri awardee in 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]
He was the first ever Indian athlete to finish in the top 3 of a Diamond League meet, and as of 2022, only two other Indian athletes had matched his feat.[11]
- ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Vikas Gowda". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Vikas Gowda". Rio2016.com. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016.
- ^ Vikas Gowda. IAAF
- ^ Tar Heels' Vikas Gowda wins discus title. Tar Heel Times (10 June 2006)
- ^ "Gowda makes the cut for the discus throw final". The Times Of India. 6 August 2012.
- ^ "London Olympics 2012 Discus Throw Results". London2012.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ "Vikas Gowda wins first gold for India at Asian Athletics Championships". The Times Of India. 4 July 2013.
- ^ Srinivasan, Kamesh (6 August 2012). "Gowda makes the cut for discus throw final". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ "Vikas Gowda is first Indian man to clinch athletics gold in 56 years". India Today. 2 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
- ^ "Gowda qualifies for Olympics after revision of entry standards". 12 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
- ^ "Sreeshankar Murali finishes third in Paris Diamond League". ESPN. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2023.