Tintu Luka
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The Times of India, Aug 01 2016
Narayanan S
With a thunderous crowd cheering her all the way , Tintu Luka, just 21, ran two completely different races in the finals of the 800m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. In the first half she set off like a rocket to lead the pack, leaving behind her closest rival by almost four metres. She just needed to hold on and India would have had their first-ever women's track gold in Commonwealth Games history . But she froze in the home straight. The occasion had got to her. She faded away and crossed the line only sixth. There and then, she was typecast as a pace-setter who loses steam in the final stretch in the 800m. The national record holder in 800m, Tintu hasn't gotten rid of that tag yet and the Rio Olympics gives her the perfect platform to correct her critics' perceptions.
Tintu's sentiment was shared by her long-time coach and legendary athlete PT Usha.“It's easy for people to stay outside and give gyan. Tintu is a runner with long strides who depends on pace more than endurance and she has to keep hold of her strength of going fast. There's nothing wrong with her running style,“ says Usha. “Also you got to understand that for almost all runners, the first 400m will be faster than their second and it's about how you pace yourself while running among a pack that decides the winner.“
Tintu could take heart from her good performances in 2015. In the Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan, she not only set the pace but stayed ahead to clinch her first 800m gold in an international competition. This was following her silver at the Incheon Asian Games in 2014. Tintu was also one of the few Indians who assured an Olympic berth very early. Though she was out in the heats in the World Championships in Beijing in August last year, her timing of 2:00.95 was good enough to secure a place in the Indian contingent for Rio.
Pre-Olympics, Tintu participated in two meets in Watford and Prague, but has failed to go below the two-minute mark this season. So what's her target in Rio? “My aim is to register a time less than 1:58 and qualify for the finals,“ says the athlete who bowed out in the semifinals in London four years ago. Usha believes her protege is in perfect shape to do it this time around. “A timing of under 1:58 is definitely possible because Tintu is at the top of her powers now and has a lot of maturity and experience to handle big moments.“
Usha, though, thinks her ward could have got more competition under her belt.
2002-2019
Biju BabuCyriac, March 22, 2019: The Times of India
Ace middle distance runner Tintu Luka has decided to bid adieu after blazing the track for over a decade and winning three medals at the Asian Games in 2010 & 2014.
“It seems she has decided to end her successful career. Her coach PT Usha has sent a letter to the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) asking it to remove her name from the list of national campers,” sources told TOI. They said Tintu attended the camp for a few months and left and added that her decision could also have been hastened due to a nagging heel injury that forced her to miss the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Tintu’s name was among the list of campers — released by the AFI — to train at the Usha School of Athletics from October 20, 2018. She left the USHA school last month where she joined in the first batch back in 2002.
The 29-year-old, who won silver and bronze in 800m at the Incheon & Guangzhou Asian Games, has now joined work full time with Railways as an Officer on Special Duty in Salem, Tamil Nadu.
The lanky athlete, hailing from Valathode in Iritty (North Kerala), dominated the 800m for many years and clocked her personal best of 1:59.17s in Split, Croatia, in 2010. She also excelled in the 400 metres and was part of the gold-medal winning squad at the 2014 Asian Games. She has a best of 53.22 clocked in Lucknow in 2014. Tintu has also won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Asian Championships from 2011 to 15.
