The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Vikas Gowda betters National mark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 07, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Vikas Gowda betters National mark

NEW DELHI, APRIL 6. Vikas Gowda has bettered the National discus record. Competing in the Charlotte invitational meet at Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., last Saturday, Vikas threw to a distance of 64.69 metres to win the title.

Gowda, who belongs to Karnataka, was representing the University of North Carolina at the meet. His father, Shive Gowda, who was once a coach with the Indian team, informed that Vikas had just launched himself into a new outdoor season when he came up with this superb performance.

Twenty-two-year-old Vikas not only recorded a personal best but also improved upon the National mark of Anil Kumar. In fact, Anil Kumar and Vikas had taken turns in improving the National record last season before the former posted a 64.37m at Szombathely, Hungary, on July 17.

Before that Vikas had bettered Anil's mark of 62.12 (August, 2002) with a throw of 62.86 at La Jolla, California, in April and followed it up with a 64.35 at Salinas, California, in May for a new National mark.

However, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) kept these marks pending for ratification and has finally proposed to ratify Anil's mark of 64.37 at Szombathely. Vikas's 64.69 should also come up for scrutiny.

Vikas missed a berth in the Olympics final at Athens by a narrow margin, finishing 14th overall. He had a 61.39 in the qualification round, just 52 centimetres off the last-placed qualifier. Anil Kumar had no mark against his name, fouling his first two attempts and pulling out with in injury before his third attempt. — Our Special Correspondent

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