Amel Tuka (born 9 January 1991) is a Bosnian middle-distance runner who competes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

. His achievements include a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships as well as a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. Tuka holds national records in the 400 m and 800 m disciplines. On 17 July 2015, with a time of 1:42.51, Tuka positioned himself as the world leader in the men's 800 metres 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 metres at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

. He earned his second medal at the World Championships in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, finishing second in the men's 800 metres.

Athletics career

Tuka was recruited by Atletski klub Zenica to train full-time in

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

after winning a low-profile 400m race in

Zenica Zenica ( ; ) is a city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and an administrative and economic center of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina's Zenica-Doboj Canton. It is located in the Bosna (river), Bosna river valley, about north of Sarajevo. The ...

. He soon became one of 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 metres 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 The 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 9th edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Tampere, Finland from 10 to 14 July. Russia topped ...

in the 800 metres, running a national record time of 1:46.29. After the championships, Tuka moved from his native Bosnia to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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 1 July 2015, Tuka won the men's 800 metres at the 20th Annual International Meeting in

Velenje Velenje (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 272.) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, sixth-largest city of Slovenia, and t ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

and qualified for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

by running 1:44.19. On 11 July 2015, he ran even faster, winning the men's 800m in Madrid with a time of 1:43.84. Just six days later at the high-profile Herculis meet in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, Tuka made another major improvement with a win of 1:42.51, making him the eleventh fastest 800 metres runner of all time and the fastest one in the world at the time. In the process, he earned a head-to-head victory over Olympic silver medalist Nigel Amos and defending World Champion Mohammed Aman.

2015 World Championships

At the

, Tuka's finishing speed against conventional 800-meter runners caused world record holder

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, State Commendations of Kenya, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a retired Kenyan Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who is the world and Olympic record holder in the 800 metres. Rudisha won gold medals in the 800 ...

to try a rarely used strategy of slowing the pace until the final 200 metres of the race. Tuka was perfectly positioned for his normal finish but Rudisha's exceptionally fast finish and strategic positioning by his Kenyan teammate Ferguson Rotich took Tuka out of his game. Tuka finished in bronze medal position, earning Bosnia its first medal in a major athletics championship.

2016 Summer Olympics

Tuka competed at the

, where he finished 12th overall in the 800-meter race By reaching the semi-finals in Rio, Tuka became the first runner from Bosnia and Herzegovina to advance from the Heats stage at the Olympics. Amel Tuka was also the Bosnian flag bearer for his country at the opening ceremony of the games.

2019 World Championships

At the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global sport of athletics, athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athleti ...

, Tuka earned his second medal at a

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial sport of athletics, athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations ...

, finishing in silver medal position with a season best time of 1:43.47 behind

Donavan Brazier Donavan Brazier (born April 15, 1997) is an American Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner. He holds the List of United States junior records in athletics#Men, American junior record in the men's 800 meters and won the 2019 World Champ ...

2020 Summer Olympics

Tuka competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and became the first athlete from Bosnia and Herzegovina to advance to a track and field final at the Olympics, where he placed 6th in the 800-meter final.

Running style

In the 800 metres, Tuka has developed a reputation for being a kicker because of his apparent speed at the end of the race, when in reality he runs even splits. Most of that speed is relative to the exhaustion as his opponents slow. Tuka takes the beginning of the race out slowly, re-gaining contact with the rest of the field near the last 200 metres and ends with a strong finishing

kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

. Amel Tuka has said when he was younger he idolized the running style of track athlete

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the joint sixth fastest comp ...

, who influenced him to run the 400 m (instead of the more popular 100 m), before subsequently switching to the 800 m.

Competition record

^{Note: This table only includes major athletics championships and does not include Diamond League

The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions.

The inaugural season was ...
or World Athletics Continental Tour/ IAAF World Challenge meets.}
¹ Did not start in the semi-finals

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuka, Amel Living people 1991 births People from Kakanj Sportspeople from Zenica-Doboj Canton Bosniaks of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina male middle-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Bosnia and Herzegovina World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 European Games European Games competitors for Bosnia and Herzegovina Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Bosnia and Herzegovina Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 European Games 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen