Tintu rewrites 800M national record, finishes fifth

PT Usha-ward clocks 1:59.17 to erase Shinys 15-year-old mark

Tintu, who had a personal best of 2:00.79 going into the event, clocked 1:59.17, shattering the time of 1:59.85 set by Shiny at the 1995 South Asian Federation Games in Chennai.

The 21-year-old Indian, representing Asia-Pacific in the event featuring continental teams, finished fifth, earning five points for her team.

Kenyan Janeth Jepkosgei, representing Africa, won the gold in 1:57.88 followed by Jamaican Kenia Sinclair of Americas (1:58.16) and Maria Savinova of Europe 1:58.27. Jennifer Meadows of Britain finished just ahead of Tintu in 1:58.88.

Tintu had shown steady improvement in the course of this season and had promised something good when she took the eighth spot at the Diamond League in Brussels on August 27 with a career-best run. The P T Usha-ward did not disappoint in Split, going under two-minutes for the first time.

Tintu set the pace early and she led after the first 400 metres, which was a tad slow at 58.04 seconds. The second lap was much quicker but the Indian led till the final 30 metres before being passed by her much experienced and stronger rivals in the race to the tape. 

Jepkosgei, the 2007 world champion, was the best of the lot and her time was just 0.04 behind her season’s best. “I liked the fans here in Split,” Jepkosgei, told the IAAF website. “They were very supportive.”

For Sinclair, it was a season’s best performance in a race in which all but one of the eight starters went under two minutes. 

Though she finished off the medals bracket, her time was a morale-booster for Tintu ahead of the Commonwealth and Asian Games, with her performance putting her in sixth place among  athletes from Commonwealth nations.

 “I am very happy for Tintu, I have seen her run and she is a very good prospect for India,” said Shiny, reacting to the news of her record going off the books.
“To achieve such a time at such a young age points to bigger achievements in the future. She will certainly bring more laurels to the country,” added Shiny.

Rypakova wins

Asia-Pacific tasted success in women’s triple jump, with Kazakhstan’s Olga Rypakova winning the women’s triple jump with an effort of 15.25 metres.

In the men’s 400M hurdles, Briton David Greene, representing Europe , powered to gold in 47.88 seconds. Javier Culson of Puerto Rico (representing Americas) took silver in 48.08  and American Bershawn Jackson (representing Americas) won bronze in 48.62.