Tintu Luka fails to qualify for 800m final in Olympics

LONDON: India's middle-distance runner Tintu Luka produced her season best timing of 1:59.69secs in the women's 800m semifinals but that was hardly enough to give her berth in the final of the event in the London Olympics on Thursday.

The 23-year-old Luka did reasonably well compared to some other Indian athletes, who have been terribly disappointing, but the Kerala girl lacked firepower to beat some of the best athletes of the world.

Luka initially tried to match her fancied opponents and maintained fourth position but gradually lagged behind to eventually finish sixth in the second semifinal.

The Indian did not have enough stamina to go all out in the home stretch unlike some of the others, who put in a lot of effort.

Luka improved upon her season best timing of 2.01.09s but it was well behind her personal best timing of 1:59.17s. She had qualified for the women's semifinals yesterday after finishing third in heat two, clocking 2:01.75s.

South Africa's Caster Semenya qualified for the final from heat number two with a season best effort of 1:57.67secs along with Russia's Elena Arzhakova (1:58.13s).

The top two in each of the three heats and the two fastest losers advance to the finals.