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Tintu Luka has expressed delight over her Gold medal win at the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships, saying that she wouldn't have been happy with anything less that a Gold and this victory had taken a big burden off her shoulders.
The 26-year-old athlete clinched the Gold in the 800m finals with a timing of 2:01.53 and added that had the inclement weather not played a part, she could’ve sealed a berth at the 2016 Rio Olympics as well.
“The gold at the Asian means an awful lot to me. I would not have been happy with anything less. Not winning a gold had been bothering me for a long time; I feel a big burden is off my shoulders now,” Tintu told in an interview to The Hindu.
“I could have done that too at Wuhan, but the persistent rain on the day of the race affected my timing. My next big event will be the world championship, to be held in Beijing in August, but I hope to compete in a couple of international events before that,” she added.
Tintu badly needed a win like this: Usha
PT Usha, who has been coaching Tintu for a while and who, herself, knows a thing or two about winning Gold medals said that Tintu desperately needed to win a Gold in an event like this and also felt that this victory would silence the critics as well.
“She badly needed a gold at an event like this. It will also silence her and my critics,” the former athlete turned coach said.
Usha was equally appreciative of the rest of the 4x400m relay team, saying that while they may not have won Gold in the team event, it was nevertheless a commendable effort from an inexperienced side.
“We shouldn’t forget that it was an inexperienced team that we fielded at Wuhan, and we still came very close to the gold. I thought both Jisna and Debasree Majumdar rose to the occasion to support the more seasoned Tintu and M.R. Poovamma,” she said.
