Sixteen-year-old Brunda S Gowda, a promising sportsperson from Mysuru has scripted a record in shot put at the Karnataka State Inter District Junior Athletics Championship held from August 23 to 25 at Udupi, by throwing a distance of 13.40 meters and has won gold in Under-16 category. With this feat, she has created a new record and also has been selected to participate at the South-Zone Junior Athletics Championship - 2019 to be conducted by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) in association with Karnataka Athletics Association on September 14 and 15 in Udupi. After her big win, Brunda said, “There was tough competition at the event. Over a dozen athletes had maintained a good distance of 13.21 to 13.23 meters. I am happy I was able to throw a distance of 13.40 meters. Now, I am aiming to win gold at the upcoming event.”
Brunda, a class X students of Sri Vani Vilasa Ursu Girls High School, Nazarbad, hails from a family of farmers. Her parents, DK Santosh and HJ Sowmya, residents of DK Koppalu, KR Nagar taluk, have both been instrumental in her success as they both were sportspersons in the past who could not pursue their passion. "My father was a state-level high jumper, as well as a kabbadi and volleyball player, while my mother was a district-level shot put thrower. My father would wake me up at 4 am for undergoing training when I was studying in Class 4. He has trained me rigorously and his efforts have paid off,” said Brunda.
Following lack of opportunities for sports training in their village, her parents enrolled her in Class 5 in a Mysuru school. Currently, Brunda is put up at the DYES Sports Hostel and undergoing training at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium. Brunda practises shot put daily for 6-7 hours. So far, she has participated in 10 national and 12 state-level events and more than 60 district and taluk level events. She has won 45 gold, 15 silver and 9 bronze medals.
Sowmya, her mother, said, "Even though my husband and I were good in sports, we couldn't achieve anything due to poverty. We want our daughter to win gold for India in the Olympics - that is our ultimate dream. But the main obstacle is that we are not financially sound to afford top-class training. If we get sponsors, it would be of great help.”
Currently, Brindha is being trained by coaches ML Gopinath and Dharamveer Singh. "Brunda is a hard-working girl. She has won gold in several events. We are happy she has set a new record in the U-16 category.
