Career
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.
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 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.
At the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, Tuka"s finishing speed against conventional 800 meter runners caused world record holder David Rudisha 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 Cheruiyot Rotich took Tuka out of his game. Tuka finished in bronze medal position.
Amel Tuka has said when he was younger he idolized the style of running of athletics runner Jeremy Wariner.
And why he decided to run 400m (instead of the more popular 100m).