Bengaluru, Feb 14: Karnataka man Srinivasa Gowda is a hot topic on the social media for reportedly running faster than Olympic and world champion sprinter Usain Bolt.
Srinivasa Gowda, a 28-year-old Kambala jockey from Moodabidri near Mangaluru, has caught the imagination of the fans after he set a new record by becoming the fastest runner in the Kambala race. Kambala is a traditional buffalo race in the Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts' farming community.
Apparently, during the Kambala race, Gowda covered the first 100 meters of the 143-meter-long race in a smashing record time of just 9.55 seconds, enough to compare him with the legendary Jamaican athlete.
In total, Gowda covered a distance of 142.5 meters in 13.62 seconds to emerge as the fastest runner in the history of the sport. Gowda has bagged a total of 29 prizes in the 12 races he participated in this year.
The previous record was set in Aladangadi near Belthangady. A school dropout and construction labourer in the off-season, Gowda has always been passionate towards buffalo races and started actively participating in his passion about five to six years ago.
Bolt - who is hailed as one of the greatest athletes of all time - created the world record of 9.58 seconds and 200-meters, at 19.19 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championships final in Berlin, Germany.
Srinivasa, however, technically did not break Bolt's record because the legendary sprinter ran 100-meters in 9.55 seconds.