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.
