Rio Olympics 2016, Athletics: India's Vikas Gowda fails to make final cut in discus throw

India’s Vikas Gowda failed to reach the finals of the men’s discus throw with a disappointing performance in the qualification round. Gowda managed to finish only 28th in the overall rankings.

The qualification criteria to reach the finals was either a minimum distance of 65.50m to qualify or the 12 best performers. Gowda was in Group B with 18 other athletes but failed to get anywhere close to the 65.50m mark.

Gowda’s best throw was on his second attempt when he managed 58.99m. His first throw was 57.59m while his final throw was only 58.70m.

Gowda had injured his shoulder before the games and his participation in Rio itself was in doubt. The 32-year-old suffered a minor injury but managed to recover in time for the Olympics in Brazil. But the injury kept him out of major competitions, not even taking part in the Diamond League series.

Gowda’s best ever throw was back in 2012 when he threw 66.28m – which is also a national record. He had thrown 62.03m to win the gold medal in the Asian Championships last year while also throwing 62.24m in the World Championship in Beijing last year to finish ninth. Gowda’s best finish remains the Gold medal in the Commonwealth Games in 2014 in Glasgow with a distance of 63.64m.

Only two men threw more than 65.50m – Poland’s Piotr Malachowski (65.89m) and Austria’s Lukas Weisshaidinger (65.86m) – both of whom were in Group A.

#	Country	Athlete	Distance (m)
1	Poland	Piotr Malachowski	65.89
2	Austria	Lukas Weisshaidinger	65.86
3	Germany	Christoph Harting	65.41
4	Lithuania	Andrius Gudzius	65.18
5	Estonia	Gerd Kanter	64.02
6	USA	Mason Finley	63.68
7	Sweden	Axel Harstedt	63.58
8	Cyprus	Apostolos Parellis	63.35
9	Hungary	Zoltan Kovago	63.34
10	Estonia	Martin Kupper	62.92
11	Germany	Daniel Jasinski	62.83
12	Belarus	Philip Milanov	62.68