Silver medal won by Tintu Luka at Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague
Sports
India
Tintu Luka, the Rio Olympics-bound Indian track and field athlete, on 7 June 2016 won a silver medal in 800 meters in the Josef Odlozil Memorial Athletics Meet in Prague, Czech Republic.
To win the medal, she covered the distance with her season's best timing of 2:00.61 (2 minutes point Six One seconds).
The reigning Asian champion was second behind 2013 World Youth Championship gold winner Anita Hinriksdottir of Iceland who ran the distance in 2:00.54 (2 minutes point five four seconds).
27-year-old Luka is still a long way to go as she is placed at 30th spot among the season's top list. Former world champion and London Olympics silver medallist Caster Semenya of South Africa is leading with 1:56.64 (1 minute, 56.six Four seconds). Semenya is followed by world indoor champion Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi with 1:56.92 (1 minute, 56.92 seconds) and Renelle Lamote of France with 1:58.01 (1 minute, 58.01 second).
The Kerala runner, Luka holds the national record of 1:59.17 (1 minute, 59.17 second) which she did way back in 2010 at Continental Cup, Croatia. She qualified for Rio Olympics during the World Championships in Beijing in 2015.
