Her time has come

As if by habit,Tintu did exactly what Usha said. She did something special. When Tintu crossed the finish line,the clock stopped at 1: 59. 17 seconds. Finally,the two minute barrier was broken by Tintu. She had shaved 0.69 seconds off Shiny Wilson’s 800-metre national mark.

The incident perfectly conveys the relationship that Usha and Tintu share. Usha isn’t just an inspirational coach to Tintu,but she also thinks,plans and talks for her ward. In a nutshell,she is just like her coach OP Nambiar,who let Usha concentrate on running as he took care of everything else.

Malyalam is the only language she can speak and as a rule she answers in monosyllables. Even the local journalists say that they have never done a full length Tintu interview. Usha speaks for her,and to her. And the arrangement is working just fine.

While India’s elite athletes train abroad and at the National Institute of Sports in Patiala,which houses state-of-the-art facilities,Tintu runs on mud tracks and beaches. For the past eight years,Usha’s school,which now boasts of a multi-gym and spartan but smart hostels for the athletes,has been Luka’s home.

Those at Usha’s school have never trained at national athletic camps and never will.

At the Commonwealth Games,the country will be looking towards Luka to win a medal in a field that will include controversial South African 800-metre world record holder Caster Semenya. Yet,eight years ago,athletics coaches would take one look at the petite girl with a frail frame and wonder if there was any talent worth nurturing.

Usha still treats Luka with kid gloves. Absence of muscle mass,a poor technique made Luka injury prone. Her lack of immunity meant she was constantly falling sick. On the flight back from Split,Tintu’s sinusitis flared up.

Usha,like she has always done with Tintu,wrapped her up in cotton wool. October 9,the next big date in Luka’s calendar,is when she will compete in the 800 metres at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium,New Delhi. Nothing must come in the way of Luka being at her best on the day.

Tintu,21,is an unlikely champion. She was the last of the 12 girls to get selected when Usha conducted her first-ever selection trials in 2002 for entry to the Usha School of Athletics; started with a budget of Rs 10,000 with the Payyoli beach front the training ground and only a single shed.

In all 500 girls,some of them champions at the junior level and almost all of them blessed with athletic bodies,fast twitch muscles and well-moulded running and jumping techniques,appeared for those trials. When Tintu ran,her head,shoulder and legs fell in different directions. Tintu didn’t produce great bursts of speed,her knee didn’t lift properly and she hadn’t developed a proper back kick. But Usha spotted something in Tintu that 12-year-old athletes rarely process —-a fierce determination to never give up no matter how many races go past without a medal or glory. Tintu,Usha realised,was the kind who would work from dawn to dusk without complaining and then work some more. Simply put,Tintu didn’t have a pain-barrier.

“I have just one question. Why hasn’t any of India’s talented runners over the years been able to break Wilson’s record despite being trained under foreign coaches and having the best of facilities? There must be something right about Tintu and my school and training methods. After all,I just missed out on an Olympic medal by just one-hundredth of a second. I know what I am doing.”