Vikas Gowda won the Commonwealth Games discus title in Glasgow in 2014, finished eighth in the Olympic final in London in 2012 and threw 66.28 metres, the Indian national record. Born in Mysore and raised in the United States, he competed at four Olympic Games for India and collected medals at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Asian Championships across a long career.
Name: Vikas Gowda | Born: 5 July 1983, Mysore, Karnataka | Sport: Athletics | Event: Discus throw
Mysore to Maryland
Gowda was born in Mysore and moved with his family to the United States as a child, growing up in Frederick, Maryland. He grew into a big, powerful thrower and went on to study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he took a degree in mathematics, before completing an MBA at UNC Charlotte. Though he trained in America for most of his career, he chose to compete for India.
Four Olympic Games
He made his Olympic debut in Athens in 2004 and finished 15th. In Beijing in 2008 he was 22nd. London 2012 was his best Olympics: he qualified for the final and threw 64.79 metres to finish eighth, reaching a final that few Indian throwers have ever made. In Rio in 2016 he did not make it through qualifying, finishing 28th with 58.99 metres. Reaching four Olympics in a field event, where Indian representation had often been thin, was an achievement in itself.
Commonwealth silver and gold
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi he won silver with a throw of 63.69 metres, in front of a home crowd. Four years later, in Glasgow, he went one better and won gold with 63.64 metres. Gold in Glasgow made him one of a small group of Indian men to win a Commonwealth Games athletics title, and it came after four years in which he had been among the most consistent throwers in the Commonwealth.
Asian medals
Gowda was a regular medallist in Asia. He took bronze at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou with 63.13 metres and silver at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon with 62.58 metres. At the Asian Championships he was champion twice: in Pune in 2013, where he threw 64.90 metres to win India’s first gold of the meeting, and in Wuhan in 2015 with 62.03 metres.
The national record and the Diamond League
In 2012 he threw 66.28 metres, the longest discus throw by an Indian and still the national record. He also became the first Indian athlete to finish on the podium at a Diamond League meeting, the top tier of one-day athletics competition. Since then a small number of Indian athletes have matched that feat.
Six seasons on the podium
Between 2010 and 2015 Gowda collected six major championship medals: two at the Commonwealth Games, two at the Asian Games and two Asian Championships titles. The home Asian Championships in Pune in 2013 were a particular high point, as he opened India’s gold medal tally in front of a home crowd. He combined that consistency with genuine distance, regularly throwing beyond 63 metres in championship conditions, where rounds are limited and the pressure is highest. Few Indian field athletes before him had been able to compete at that level year after year, and his London final remains one of the best Olympic results by an Indian thrower.
Honours and retirement
He received the Arjuna Award in 2014, the year of his Commonwealth gold and Asian Games silver, and the Padma Shri in 2017. He announced his retirement in 2018, ending a career that ran from the Athens Olympics to Rio. His national record of 66.28 metres is the mark every Indian discus thrower since has been measured against.
Career record and honours
- Olympic Games: 15th, Athens 2004; 22nd, Beijing 2008; 8th, London 2012 (64.79m); 28th, Rio 2016
- Commonwealth Games: silver, New Delhi 2010 (63.69m); gold, Glasgow 2014 (63.64m)
- Asian Games: bronze, Guangzhou 2010 (63.13m); silver, Incheon 2014 (62.58m)
- Asian Championships: gold, Pune 2013 (64.90m); gold, Wuhan 2015 (62.03m)
- National record: 66.28m (2012)
- First Indian to finish on the podium at a Diamond League meeting
- Arjuna Award: 2014
- Padma Shri: 2017
