Tintu Luka was born in the small village of Valathode near Karikkottakary in Kannur district, Kerala, India. Her parents are Lukka and Lissy, a state-level long jumper. She has a sister named Angel Lukka. Luka did her schooling from St. Thomas High School, Karikkottakary.[1]
In 2001, Luka joined the PT Usha School of Athletics at Koyilandy, and started training under the guidance of her coach P T Usha.[2] In 2008, she bagged her first international medal in form of a silver at the Junior Asian Athletics Championships.[1]
At 2010 Commonwealth Games Luka finished in sixth place in the women's 800m with a timing of 2:01.25s.[4]PT Usha responded to this performance, saying that Tintu Luka had not been exposed to such a large crowd before and that the crowd's applause and cheering could have made her lose concentration and run faster without prior planning.
Luka won the bronze medal in the women's 800 metres event of the track and field competitions at the Asian Games 2010. Tintu, who had a disappointing finish in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, led the pack right from the start, but couldn't keep pace in the last 50 metres and finished third with a timing of 2:01.36 seconds.[5]
In the Continental Cup, Croatia, 2010, Luka timed 1:59.17, to break Shiny Wilson's 15-year-old national record of 1:59.85 in the 800m event.[6]
In the second of the three semi-finals for 800 metres event at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, Luka finished sixth in her heat clocking an 1:59.69 seconds her seasons best, but could not qualify for the finals.[7][8] For her performance at the Summer Olympics, the Government of Kerala awarded her ₹200,000 (US$2,300) and will provide her with a job in a gazetted rank.[9]
On 1 October 2014 Luka won the silver medal in the 800m at the Asian Games held at Incheon, South Korea.[10] She was also the part of the team that won the gold medal in the 4 X 400 m relay at the 2014 Asian Games.[11] The team clocked 3:28:68 to break the Games Record. This is India's 4th consecutive gold in the event since 2002.
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