Rio 2016: Tintu Luka comes a cropper in 800m

Tintu Luka (right) competes in the women’s 800 metres heats at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday. Tintu finished sixth — and 29th overall — with a timing of 2:00.58 and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

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

The 27-year-old Luka clocked a season’s best of 2:00.58 to finish sixth in Heat no.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. The 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).