Amel Tuka
Tuka at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Bosnian |
| Born |
9 January 1991 Kakanj, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFRY |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 77 kg (170 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Track and field |
| Event(s) | 800 metres |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal best(s) |
400 metres: 47.19 800 metres: 1:42.51 |
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Medal record
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Amel Tuka (born 9 January 1991) is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. Tuka holds two national records of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 400 metre and 800 metre disciplines. On July 17, 2015, With his time of 1:42.51, Tuka positioned himself as the world leader in the men's 800 metres in Monaco for the year 2015. He subsequently earned his country's first medal in a major athletics championship with his third-place finish in the men's 800 meters at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.
Tuka was recruited by Atletski Klub Zenica to train full-time in track and field after winning a low-profile 400-m race in Zenica. Since then he has become the most competitive middle-distance runner in the country, having competed and won medals in numerous regional and continental (European) championships.
In June 2013, Tuka won the 800 metre race at the 2013 European Team Championships Third League, running a time of 1:51.11. Less than a month later, Tuka earned third place at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships in the 800 metre, running a national record time of 1:46.29. After the championships, Tuka moved from his native Bosnia to Verona, Italy to train with coach Gianni Ghidini.
At the 2014 European Athletics Championships, Tuka placed sixth in the men's 800 metres final, breaking his record by running a new personal best of 1:46.12.
On July 1, 2015, Tuka won the men's 800 meters at the 20th Annual International Meeting in Velenje, Slovenia and qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics by running 1:44.19. On July 11, 2015, he ran even faster, winning the men's 800 in Madrid with a time of 1:43.84. The result in Madrid put Tuka as the seventh fastest 800 meter runner in the world at the time, tied with Boris Berian. Just six days later at the high-profile Herculis meet in Monaco, Tuka made another major improvement with a win of 1:42.51, making him the eleventh fastest 800 meter runner of all time and the fastest one in the world at the time. In the process he gained a head to head victory over Olympic silver medalist Nigel Amos and defending World Champion Mohammed Aman.
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