Gowda wins bronze in Shanghai IAAF Diamond League

Ace India discus thrower Vikas Gowda won a bronze medal in the second leg of the prestigious IAAF Diamond League series here today.

The 31-year-old Gowda hurled the disc to a distance of 63.90m, which he achieved in his fifth and penultimate attempt to finish third behind 2013 World Championships silver medallist Piotr Malachowski (64.65m) of Poland and Robert Urbanek (64.47m), also of Poland.

National record holder Gowda, the 2014 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and Asian Games silver medal winner, will pocket USD 4000 for the third-place finish, besides earning one Diamond League point.

The United States-based Indian has a season's best of 65.75m, which he achieved at La Jolla in California last month, while his national record stands at 66.28m. He is yet to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, for which the qualifying standard is 66m.

Last year, Gowda had finished overall fourth in the Diamond League Series by collecting two points by virtue of finishing second in the Doha leg and had pocketed USD 3,000 prize money.