Karnataka techie bolts to become fastest 100m online sprinter

Mangalore, 29 Jan 2013: What do Usain Bolt of Jamaica and Roshan Ramachandra of Chintamani share in common? Nothing to say the least. But both have a passion for speed. While Bolt blazes the athletic tracks to be regarded the fastest man on Earth, Roshan Ramachandra has given Bolt a run for his money online.

 

This 23-year-old software engineer with Infosys Technologies Limited has made Indian online gamers fraternity proud. Roshan became a Guinness World Record (GWR) holder by winning the online game "QWOP", also known as ’Fastest 100 metre QWOP flash game’.

 

In this game hosted by GWR, a participant who completes 100 metres running race in less time becomes the record holder. GWR had set a target for gamers to complete 100 metres in 70 seconds.

 

Prior to setting the new world record, Roshan had finished 100 metres in 69 seconds on December 30, 2012 and had clocked 97 seconds on December 17, 2012.

 

GWR officially declared Roshan the winner on January 23. Working at Infosys here for the past year, Roshan, son of Ramachandra N, a tailor, is a native of Chintamani town in Chikkaballapur district, 75km away from Bangalore. Roshan told TOI that it all started with a thought that, "We are born and we will die, in between we need to achieve something".

 

He said "I feel Guinness World Record is the kind of platform where one does a known contribution to his or her country. So the thought to register my name in Guinness World Record by representing India, and it came true."

 

Now Roshan, who is also a cricket enthusiast, is gearing up to hit the cricket ground. "I am planning to set a world record by practising batting in the nets continuously for more than 24 hours."

 

A gaming freak, Roshan discovered QWOP while surfing recently and made up his mind to set the world record. After practising this game intensely for four hours every day, Roshan, who represented India, emerged as the winner on Jan 4. He set the new world record completing 100 metres in 67 seconds. The previous world record was of Youri from the Netherlands, who has completed 100 metres in 100 seconds.