Srinivasa Gowda is a school dropout and who works as a construction labourer, began pursuing the Kambala passion five to six years ago. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
New Delhi:
Srinivasa Gowda's feat of running 100 meters in 9.55 seconds, which was 0.03 seconds quicker than Usain Bolt's tally of 9.58 seconds, has taken India by storm. Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and the BJP General National Secretary P Muralidhar Rao stepped up and offered Srinivasa Gowda the chance to train at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) under top coaches following his exploits. Rao tweeted, "India will rise and shine the Indic way! 100 meters in just 9.55 sec is an amazing feat. Proper training to Srinivas Gowda will definitely help him to make name for the country. My best wishes."
India will rise and shine the Indic way!
— P Muralidhar Rao (@PMuralidharRao) February 15, 2020
100 meters in just 9.55 sec is an amazing feat. Proper training to Srinivas Gowda will definitely help him to make name for the country. My best wishes.@KirenRijiju @CTRavi_BJP https://t.co/ImgR3W1v4W pic.twitter.com/2zaUTBpLYo
Yes @PMuralidharRao ji. Officials from SAI have contacted him. His rail ticket is done and he will reach SAI centre on monday. I will ensure top national coaches to conduct his trials properly. We are team @narendramodi ji and will do everything to identity sporting talents! https://t.co/RF7KMfIHAD
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) February 15, 2020
To this, Rijiju replied, "Yes @PMuralidharRao ji. Officials from SAI have contacted him. His rail ticket is done and he will reach SAI centre on monday. I will ensure top national coaches to conduct his trials properly. We are team @narendramodi ji and will do everything to identity sporting talents!" Following his feat in the Kambala Buffalo race, Srinivasa Gowda spoke to ANI and humbly said that there is no comparison. "People are comparing me to Usain Bolt. He is a world champion, I am only running in a slushy paddy field," Gowda said. Apparently, Gowda, who hails from Mudbidri, Mangaluru ran 142.5 meters in 13.62 seconds at a buffalo race (Kambala) in a paddy field on Feb 1 in Kadri.
Usain Bolt holds the world record time of 9.58 seconds in the 100 meter race. However, that record has apparently been broken, that too by an Indian! If reports are to be believed, then Srinivasa Gowda of Karnataka has broken Usain Bolt's record by running 100 meters in a staggering 9.55 seconds. In a Twitter post shared by DP Satish, a senior Editor working for CNN-News18, Satish wrote, "He is Srinivasa Gowda (28) from Moodabidri in Dakshina Kannada district. Ran 142.5 meters in just 13.62 seconds at a "Kambala" or Buffalo race in a slushy paddy field. 100 meters in JUST 9.55 seconds! @usainbolt took 9.58 seconds to cover 100 meters."
Kambala jockeys get a remuneration of Rs 1-2 lakh to train buffaloes and take part in competitions for a season. (Image credit: Twitter)
According to a report in the Indian Express, Gowda, who has been a Kambala jockey for a long time, took just 13.62 seconds to cover the distance at the race at Aikala village about 30 kilometres away from Mangalore. The report said Gowda is on a record-breaking spree during the current Kambala season by bagging 29 prizes in the 12 Kambalas he participated in during the current season. He created a new record by winning prizes in all four categories at the Aikala event which is a first in the history of Kambala. In a couple of other Kambala events, he won three prizes each.
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The report further stated that Gowda, who is a school dropout and who works as a construction labourer, began pursuing the Kambala passion five to six years ago. Kambala jockeys get a remuneration of Rs 1-2 lakh to train buffaloes and take part in competitions for a season. The owners also give them cash prizes if their buffaloes win any contests. Bolt improved upon his second 100 m world record of 9.69 with 9.58 seconds in 2009 – the biggest improvement since the start of electronic timing. He has twice broken the 200 metres world record, setting 19.30 in 2008 and 19.19 in 2009. He has helped Jamaica to three 4 × 100 metres relay world records, with the current record being 36.84 seconds set in 2012.
