The viral Kambala jockey, who was reported to be faster than Jamaican Usain Bolt has now captured the government’s attention. The 28-year-old has been offered full support by Sports minister Kiren Rijiju.
Speaking to media he said,
“People are comparing me to Usain Bolt. He is a world champion, I am only running in a slushy paddy field. “
Srinivas Gowda made a headline for running the distance of 100 meters in 9.55 seconds, which is faster than Usain Bolt’s record of 9.58 seconds, 03 seconds slower than the Karnataka Bolt.
According to the latest update, Srinivas has been called to undergo trials under ‘top SAI coaches’. Kiran Rijiju himself told about the decision in a tweet.
He tweeted,
“I’ll call Karnataka’s Srinivasa Gowda for trials by top SAI Coaches. There’s a lack of knowledge in masses about the standards of Olympics especially in athletics where ultimate human strength & endurance are surpassed. I’ll ensure that no talents in India are left out untested.”
It all started when one of India’s top business tycoon Anand Mahindra shared the incident on Twitter. He praised the Karnataka farmer for being quicker than the World’s fastest man Usain Bolt.
He wrote, “Just one look at his physique and you know this man is capable of extraordinary athletic feats. Now either Kiren Rijiju provides him training as a 100m sprinter or we get Kambala to become an Olympic event. Either way, we want a gold medal for Srinivasa.”
Soon after Anand Mahindra’s tweet, the sports minister Kiran Rijiju agreed to help the young talent.
Not just Mr. Mahindra, the English grammar magician Shashi Tharoor also urged the government to help the Karnataka farmer to come up with more.
He tweeted, “Faster Than Usain Bolt? Karnataka Man Running With Buffaloes Covers 100 Metres in Just 9.55 Seconds. I urge the Athletics Association of India to take this man under their wing & make an Olympic champion of him. Wonder how many hidden talents we have!”
The Indian Usain Bolt was earlier interviewed by ANI and he was asked about his reaction to being compared with the world’s fastest man. The humble Srinivasa Gowda said “People are comparing me to Usain Bolt. He is a world champion, I am only running in a slushy paddy field.”
Kambala is a traditional sort of Karnataka where a racer drives a pair of buffaloes over a paddy field. The sport has been popular in villages of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada, and Kasargod in Kerala for ages.
Now it is said that Srinivasa had broken a 30-year-old record in this sport which was held in Aikala village, about 30km from Mangaluru. The match referees said that the racer has bagged 29 prizes in the 12 Kambalas he participated in during the current season. Amazing thing is, the young 28-year-old created a new record by obtaining prizes in all four divisions at the Aikala event, which is a first in the history of Kambala.
