Discus thrower Vikas Gowda has set a new meet record of 65.14 m and won gold in the Jamaican International Invitation meet in Kingston. He broke his own record of 61.38 m set two years ago. Chad Wright of Jamaica came second with an effort of 61.84 m while Jared Schuurmans of United States was third with 61.62 m.

Gowda, the Commonwealth Games champion and 2014 Asian Games silver medallist, has breached the 65m three times recently. He is yet to qualify for next year’s Rio Olympics for which he need to cross the qualifying standard of 66 m. His national record stands at 66.28 m.

Tidbits

• Discus Throwing can be dated at least to 708 BC.
• It is particularly iconic of the Olympic Games.
• A discus weighs between 1 to 2 kg (2.2 to 4.4 pounds), the weight depending on the age and gender of the athlete.
• Krishna Poonia won gold in women’s discus final of 2010 Commonwealth Games.