Wednesday 8 August 2012

Run Tintu, Run

Today was our first look see into the grand Olympic Stadium, the same place the opening ceremony was held. Having passed this stadium several times on the way to the hockey, Rati and I were relieved to finally make our entry into the epicentre of any Olympics - the main stadium. 

It's a stadium with dramatic proportions. The external facade is imposing enough. Our entry into the action area was greeted gleefully by the attendant. "Down to your left Sir, you have lovely seats," he announces. And lovely our seats turn out to be. Lovelier still is the insides of the stadium and the athletics action to follow. 

After Great Britian's current most favourite athlete, Mo Farah, runs a fine race in a 5,000 metres heat to deafening applause it is time for Tintu Luka to run the second heats of the women's 800 metres. Our sprint Queen PT Usha's dutiful pupil, Tintu, has a tough draw. Two world class ladies in her heat who have won world championship gold medals and the like.

A daunting race to run for Tintu in a pressure cooker environment. The stadium is packed to the hilt with 80,000 noisy spectators. Her competitors are some of the best in the world. Easy for an Indian athlete to crumble. Not so for Terrific Tintu. She keeps pace with the front runners from the start.

Terrific Tintu Luka remains undaunted in a cauldron of a stadium. Tintu's in all black and in second place in the middle.

Only the first three in each heat qualify for the semi finals. 200 metres from the finish Tintu falls back into fourth place where she remains up to 10 metres to go. A last gasp effort and she finishes in a blur along with the third placed runner.  The huge display boards in the stadium flash "PHOTO" next to Tintu's name.

300 metres from the finish Tintu's in third place but about to be overhauled by the lady in red. Soon she ends up in a photo finish for the precious third place.

So it's a photo which decides young Ms Luka's fate. Tension mounts. Time to bite our nails? Rati and I settle for holding our breath instead. And then the display changes. Before Tintu Luka's name appears the important figure.....3! She has made it and lives to fight another day. As a result our day takes a sudden turn for the much better and we begin to enjoy the so many interesting sights the Olympic Stadium has to offer.

Terrific Tintu's third place is confirmed on the giant display board while she's seen in a dead heat for third place on the left.

We appreciate the guts and gumption Attar has to become the first woman from Saudi Arabia to become an Olympic athelete. The samosas we eat soon after taste the best I've eaten for hundreds of years. The queue we stand in to get into the London 2012 Megastore cancels the pleasure the samosas have just given us. Such crowds I have not experienced before!

The lady in the white headgear, Attar, running the first ever Olympic race by a Saudi woman.

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