The Hindu : Sport / Athletics : Vikas — big boy who's aiming bigger

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 05, 2005

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Sport - Athletics

Vikas — big boy who's aiming bigger

K.P. Mohan

NEW DELHI: At the University of North Carolina campus, he is quite often mistaken for a basketball player or a gridiron footballer. At 6 feet 9 inches and 275 pounds, Vikas Gowda does look big. But he is an athlete, a thrower to be precise.

Vikas happens to be the lone male athlete from India chosen to compete in the World Championships in Helsinki. In fact, he was the only man to get a qualifying norm this season. And he will be tackling his preliminary round in discus on the opening day in Helsinki on August 6.

Vikas had missed the Olympics final last year very narrowly. He had a 61.39 while the last qualifier went through on a 61.91. "The Olympics was a great learning experience," says Vikas.

This year he was the favourite for the NCAA title, but finished second, only the second time ever that an Indian had won a medal in the American collegiate championships after triple jumper Mohinder Singh Gill in the 70s.

Natural transition

As he grew taller, Vikas started losing speed and the transition to throws was natural. Elder brother Vikram was a thrower too and Gowda, a decathlete in his younger days, was on hand to guide his younger son towards a throwing career. By the age of 14, Vikas had left his sprinting and jumping days well behind him.

The Mysore-born Vikas first represented the country in the World junior championships at Kingston, Jamaica, in 2002. He competed in shot put and discus there, finishing 12th in the latter event with a 54.46.

His progression from then on has been quite phenomenal. In 2003, with a 59.32, he was sixth in the Asian lists and last year, he held the National record briefly with an effort of 64.35 at Salinas, California, before Anil Kumar regained his record with a 64.37.

Anil and Vikas were second and third in the Asian lists behind Iranian Abbas Samimi. Early this season, Vikas posted a National mark of 64.69 at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Experimenting

After that, however, he has not been able to get into the 64m bracket. "My season started out strong. I threw 64.69 and had three other meets at or over 62 and then another at 63.37. Then my coach and I started experimenting with different aspects of my technique. Some of the changes worked but some didn't.

Irrespective of where he finishes at Helsinki, Vikas has his sights set firmly on the 2008 Olympics. "My plan is to enter the 2008 Olympics as the favourite. My ultimate goal is to be the number one in the world," he says.

"I have a long career ahead and if I keep improving the way I have been, I think I will be able to accomplish every goal I have. Discus throwers generally don't reach their prime until their early 30s. So, I have a long career ahead."

Lebedeva to skip

long jump

The Russian team has withdrawn Olympic champion Tatyana Lebedeva from the long jump competition on Thursday.

It was a widely expected move, though the Russian federation had named her for long jump in its team originally, surprisingly not showing her in the triple jump where she should be the favourite. Reserve jumper Oksana Udumurtova will take Lebedeva's place in long jump. The No 2 and No 3 ranked women in the world, Tatyana Kotova and Irina Simagina will be the main Russian contenders.

Anju George, India's main hope here, up by a slot to be No. 5 in this week's rankings, will also have to contend with reigning world champion Eunice Barber of France, going by the entry lists. The Frenchwoman only has a 6.51 this season, but if she competes, apart from the heptathlon, she could be one of the contenders for a medal. World and Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft of Sweden, however does not figure in the line-up.

Former world champion Niurka Montalvo, though originally not named by Spain, has found a place in the long jump entry list with a season best of 6.72m.

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