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Journalism of Courage
At the end of the second round of the mens discus throw final,Indias Vikas Gowda was worried that his feet were slipping at the back of the ring as he prepared to generate the required centrifugal force to hurl the 2 kilogram disc. The expectations from Gowda were high because he was considered a favourite to win gold in the absence of Irans Ehsan Hadadi,the meet record holder and a multiple gold medal winner. Also read: Faltering in home stretch
Gowda,who is based in Maryland,USA,is not a common sighting at Indian athletics meets,and participating in front of a home crowd brought with it pressure. At the Commonwealth Games,in front of a packed Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi,Gowda had won silver but a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships had eluded him in his previous attempts silver in 2005 and 2011 being his best performances.
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Unlike a majority of the Indian athletes here,Gowda had already made the grade for the Moscow World Championships in August when he achieved the B standard with a throw of 65.82 metres during the Mesa Classic in Arizona three months ago.
But Gowdas aim was to win gold in front of a home crowd in an international event. However,in spite of the rain staying away,Gowda couldnt put a finger on why he was slipping till he decided to inspect the sole of his shoe,which had a hole in it.
By the time he went to the root of the problem,two rounds had gone and Sultan Mubarak of Saudi Arabia was leading the field. However,Gowda put on a new pair of footwear and put his best foot forward.
With a throw of 62.81 metres in the third round,he leapfrogged ahead of the Saudi Arabian,who was unable to better his 60.05m mark in the first attempt. Gowda followed it up with 64.90,and as Sultan came up short once again,the 69 Indian pumped his fists and waved to the crowd. There were two more rounds to go,but Gowda perhaps knew he could not be beaten on the day. And he would not.
The timing of his win was special too.
Tomorrow is my birthday so I feel great that I was finally able to win gold at the Asian Athletics Championships. Along with my Commonwealth Games silver,I would always remember this gold medal. I have worked hard for 15 years and these wins,in front of a home crowd is what makes all the hard work and sacrifices special, Gowda said as he draped the Tri-Colour around his broad shoulders.
Once I realised that it was my shoe that was resulting in me slipping,I changed it and didnt allow it to affect the rest of my throws. When you have trained hard,you fall back on the hard work you have put in when you are under pressure. I was under pressure to win today, Gowda added.
Gowdas gold was one of the three medals India won on the second day. The first medal,a silver was won by womens quartermiler MR Poovamma,who saw her unbeaten run this season being broken by Chinas Zhao Yanmin. Poovamma who won gold in the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix,hadnt faced the challenge of the Chinese this season. Though she got the better of Guangzhou Asian Games champion Yuliya Rakhmanova,she perhaps did not account for Yanmin,a runner she hadnt faced before in a race.
I am happy that I won the silver,but I was aiming for the gold as that would have given me direct entry into the World Championships. With a little over 200 metres to go I couldnt pick up the pace as much as I would have liked , Poovamma said.
Towards the end of the evening,Ratiram Saini won the bronze in the mens 10,000m in an event that had only seven participants.
