Cattle jockey breaks 30-year-record at racing event in southern India
Cattle jockey breaks 30-year-record at racing event in southern India

A cattle jockey from south India has set a new record as the fastest runner in the history of the traditional sport of the coastal region.

Srinivasa Gowda, 28, took just 13.62 seconds to cover the distance at the Kambala at Aikala village, Karnataka, breaking the previous record dating back to the early 1990s.

Footage of the race shows Gowda sprinting alongside his team of buffaloes, flopping forward after setting his winning record and being lifted up by a crowd of cheering spectators.

Gowda, who works as a construction labourer off the track, says he enjoyed watching the races as a boy and began racing himself around five years ago.

He ran using a team of buffaloes owned by several patrons, which he began training four weeks before the start of the season.

Kambala jockeys receive cash rewards to train other people's buffaloes to take part in competitions for a season.

The owners also give them bonuses if their buffaloes win any contests.