Olympics athletics: Indian discus thrower Vikas finishes eighth

London, Aug 8 (IANS) Indian discus thrower Vikas Gowda finished eighth while the gold was clinched by German Robert Harting and the silver went to Iranian Ehsan Hadadi in the men's event at the 2012 London Games here Tuesday.

Defending champion Gerd Kanter of Estonia had to settle for the bronze medal.

The 29-year-old US-based Gowda got his best 64.79 in the first attempt at the packed Olympic Stadium. It was way behind his personal best and also his performance in the qualifying round. Gowda's personal best was 66.28 that he achieved this year while his attempt of 65.20 helped him qualify for Tuesday's final round.

Harting, whose second attempt ran into the protective net, took the gold with a throw of 68.27 metres in his fifth attempt. The German had finished fourth in Beijing.

Harting was engaged in a tough battle with Hadadi for the gold medal. The Iranian finished second with 68.18m.

Kanter finished third with a season's best performance of 68.03m in his fifth attempt. In Beijing Games, Kanter had a throw of 68.82 to take the gold.

Beijing Games silver medallist Piotr of Poland was fifth with 67.19m and Lithuanian Virgilijus Alekna, bronze medallist four years ago, was fourth with 67.38m.