Indian buffalo racer Srinivas Gowda has drawn comparisons with sprint legend Usain Bolt after delivering a record-breaking run at a Kambala racing event in Karnataka.
Gowda, who is a part-time construction worker, completed the 142m race in an amazing 13.42 seconds, setting a new record in the traditional Indian sport where farmers sprint with a pair of buffaloes on slush tracks.
#UsainBolt we indian should be proud of this man 🔥🔥🔥 #SrinivasGowda 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/2T6iTopwAB
— ⚔️SB Krish⚔️ (@sb_krish) February 15, 2020
After a video of Gowda’s sensational run was shared on social media, users quickly calculated that he had covered 100m in 9.55 seconds – which is 0.03 seconds faster than Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt’s 100m world record.
The runner captured the attention of Minister of State of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju, who invited him to meet top Sports Authority of India (SAI) coaches after his record-setting race went viral.
“I will call Srinivasa Gowda for trials by top SAI Coaches. There’s a lack of knowledge in the masses about standards of Olympics, especially in athletics where ultimate human strength and endurance are surpassed. I’ll ensure that no talents in India are left out untested,” he said.
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The 28-year-old sensation played down comparisons with retired Jamaican sprint star Bolt, humbly stating: “People are comparing me to Usain Bolt. He is a world champion, I am only running in a slushy paddy field.”
Usain Bolt – The Greatest Sprinter of All Time
A brilliant junior athlete, Bolt made his Olympic debut as a 17-year-old at Athens 2004, where, hampered by a torn hamstring, he went out in the opening round of the 200m. Yet by the time he returned to the Games at Beijing four years later, the tall Jamaican sprinter was a firm favorite to claim an Olympic sprint double, having set a new 100m world record of 9.72 seconds in late May in New York, followed by the fastest 200m of the year, 19.67, a few weeks later in the Greek capital.
Record Run: Srinivas Gowda (28), an Indian Kambala buffalo racer from Karnataka, India is being compared to world record holder, @usainbolt.
Srinivas covered 142 meters in 13.62 seconds running in a slushy field; Bolt has completed the 100 meter sprint in 9.58 seconds pic.twitter.com/OYsjd2z8bn
— Sri Lanka Global (@srilankaglobal) February 15, 2020
“I want to share it with my team,” said Bolt after completing his hat-trick of winning the gold medal. “It’s down to them that I beat the world record today. When you beat the relay world record, you feel four times happier.” His unprecedented achievement of setting three world records in winning three sprint golds made him the star of Beijing 2008 along with US swimmer Michael Phelps and earned him an ecstatic reception on his return to Jamaica in early September.
Two Unbeaten World Records
Bolt consolidated his status as a global superstar at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin the following year, trimming 0.11 seconds off his 100m world record, taking it down to 9.58, and setting a new 200m world record of 19.19. Both times are yet to be beaten.