Kambala Jockey Srinivas Gowda, who backed off for giving shoes a try, has agreed to train for the sprint. The 28-year-old agreed after a team of Sports Authority of India (SAI) from Bengaluru visited him in Kasargod and convinced him to appear for athletics trial.
A group of 3 SAI team watched the buffalo races in Paivalike on Saturday and studied the timing of the events.
“Srinivas has never worn shoes while running, nor has he run on an artificial track. He will be trained by coaches of national repute at Moodabidri and appear for trials before SAI” said K Gunapala Kadamba, founder-secretary of Dakshina Kannada Kambala Committee.
“He will be busy with the races till the first week of March. After that, he will take some time off to rest and then begin training,” sources added.
Earlier, Srinivas, who was also being compared to Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt had rejected an official offer inviting him to participate in national trials. He informed that it was unnecessary to compare him with Usain Bolt, adding that he was happy with Kambala.
“I have injured my leg and my focus is on Kambala. I am used to running with buffalo in the paddy fields,” he said.
