Mangaluru: Coastal Karnataka’s Kambala Jockey Srinivas Gowda, who is now called the ‘Usain Bolt of Kambala’ has caught the attention of none other than Vice-President of India Venkaiah Naidu.
Naidu took to Twitter on Sunday and lauded the achievement of Srinivas Gowda. He further complimented Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju for acknowledging Gowda’s talent.
“Kudos to Karnataka’s #SrinivasaGowda for achieving a rare feat during a Buffalo Race and being compared to Usain Bolt. There is a lot of hidden talent in the country which needs to be recognized, respected and to be nurtured to realise the full potential,” the Vice-President said in his tweet.
He also said: My compliments to Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister for sports, for acknowledging Srinivasa’s talent and offering him the requisite training to hone his skills for #Olympics. @KirenRijiju #sports #KarnatakaSports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday took to Twitter and said that the officials from SAI have contacted Gowda and he would reach the SAI centre on Monday. He further promised to ensure that top national coaches conduct his trials properly.
Kambala is a traditional sport of coastal Karnataka where buffaloes and the jockey run across the slushy paddy field.
Gowda was seen completing the sprint of 142.50 meters in 13.62 seconds in one of the competitions. This compelled the onlookers to compare the sprint to Usain Bolt, who holds the world 100m record of 9.58 seconds.
