Tintu flops in 800m, crashes out in heats

RIO DE JANEIRO: Tintu Luka came a cropper on the global stage once again as she failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women’s 800m race after finishing sixth

RIO DE JANEIRO: Tintu Luka came a cropper on the global stage once again as she failed to qualify for the semifinals of the women’s 800m race after finishing sixth in her heat at the Rio Olympics here on Wednesday.

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27-year-old Luka clocked a season’s best of 2 minute 00.58 seconds to finish sixth in heat number 3 and 29th overall out of a total 65 runners. She holds the national record of 1:59.17 which she created in 2010.

As usual she led the field till around 600m before fading on the final stretch to end her second Olympics campaign in disappointment.

Only the top two finishers in each of the eight heats and the next best eight runners qualified for the semifinal round.

2015 World Championships silver medallist Melissa Bishop of Canada topped the heats in 1:58.39, followed by reigning world champion Marina Arzamasova (1:58.44) of Belarus and Habitum Alemu (1:58.99) of Ethiopia.

With Luka’s flop show today, India’s disappointment in track and field events continued in the Games. Only Lalita Babar has been able to make it to the final round of the women’s steeplechase event.

Luka has rarely done well at the global stage since she made it to the senior level in 2009.