Sport
10 September, 2021
An Olympic visit
Recently out of quarantine on his way home from Tokyo, Olympic runner Patrick Tiernan paid a visit to Bunker’s Hill State School, where his father Jim Tiernan is the Principal.
Tiernan finished 19th in the 10,000 metres in Tokyo with a time of 28:35:06 and received global news coverage when he collapsed 150 metres before the finish line.
Tiernan stumbled and crawled his way to the finish line, determined to do the best he could.
He is now a dual Olympian, having previously competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics, as well as the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, multiple world championships and the 2011 Oceania Youth Championships where he won silver.
Born in Longreach, Tiernan’s passion for long distance running started at a young age.
His family moved to the Toowoomba Region, where he enjoyed a lot of success in cross country and track and field in his school years.
After finishing school, Tiernan was offered a scholarship to Villanova University in the USA.
After a successful college career, he became a professional athlete and has represented Australia at multiple World Championships.
He is the current Australian record holder for the 10000m.
Tiernan’s visit to Bunker’s Hill was well received, as the students were awe-struck by his presence.
He will be returning to his training base in the USA next week to begin preparations for the next Olympic Games in Paris which are three years away.
