Tintu to skip trials, miss Asian Games
National record-holder Tintu had been unwell after last year’s Asian championships in Bhubaneswar and just when she appeared to be recovering well, searing pain in her heel started troubling her a little more than a month ago.
Published : Aug 13, 2018 22:25 IST
Olympian Tintu Luka, the 800m silver medallist at the last Asian Games in Incheon, has pulled out of the Games' 18th edition which begins in Jakarta on August 18.
National record-holder Tintu had been unwell after last year’s Asian championships in Bhubaneswar and just when she appeared to be recovering well, searing pain in her heel started troubling her a little more than a month ago.
Since she did not attend the inter-State Nationals, the Asiad’s final qualification meet in Guwahati in June, the Athletics Federation of India had asked the 2015 Asian champion to attend the ‘confirmatory trials’ in Thiruvananthapuram on August 15 though it had included her in the Indian team list for Jakarta.
NOT FULLY FIT
“Tintu will not be attending the trials in Thiruvananthapuram and she will not be going to Jakarta,” her coach P.T. Usha told Sportstar on Monday.
“She is running okay with shoes but when she wears spikes, she is unable to stretch fully and run. It will probably take 10 more days for her to be okay.”
Apart from the 800m silver, Tintu was a crucial member of the women’s 4x400m relay team that broke the Asian Games record while winning the gold at Incheon.
NEENA, NAYANA TESTED
Meanwhile, the jumpers in the national camp in Thiruvananthapuram who have also been asked to undergo the AFI’s confirmatory trials on August 15, were tested by the National Anti-Doping Agency a few days ago.
Kerala long jumpers Neena Pinto and Nayana James, both medallists at last year’s Asian championships in Bhubaneswar, along with high jumper B. Chethan – who will have their trials in Thiruvananthapuram — were tested by NADA.
Rakesh Babu, who ran into trouble when syringes were found in his room during the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April, was also tested.