Julia Tunks
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| Born | 20 July 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Discus throw | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Julia Tunks (born 20 July 2006) is a Canadian discus thrower and shot putter. She has won the Canadian Athletics Championships in the discus throw in 2023 and 2025. In 2025, she also became the Canadian national record holder at the age of 18.[1]
Early life
[edit]From London, Ontario, she is the daughter of Lieja Koeman, who participated in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics in the shot put and three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, 2004) discus thrower Jason Tunks. She attended Oakridge Secondary School. She played soccer as a goalkeeper before focusing on athletics.[2][3]
Career
[edit]She won the Canadian Athletics Championships for the first time in 2023.[4] She was a gold medalist at the 2023 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in August 2023 in Mayagüez, Peru with a throw of 56.98 metres.[5] She placed seventh overall at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru.[6]
In April 2025, at the age of 18, she threw 62.95 metres for the discus throw in Ramona, Oklahoma to not only set a new personal best and break her own national under-20 record, but also break the senior Canadian national record which was previously set in 1979 by Carmen Ionesco.[7][8] She won the Canadian Athletics Championships in Ottawa in 2025 with a championship record throw of 60.68 metres.[9][10] She was a bronze medalist at the 2025 NACAC Championships in Freeport, The Bahamas.[11]
In September 2025, she competed at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan, without reaching the final.[12][13]
In April 2026, Tunks set a new personal best and Canadian record of 63.58m to win at the Mt. SAC Relays in California, beating 2023 World Champion Laulauga Tausaga.[14][15]
Tunks was named in the Canada team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.[16]
Personal life
[edit]She is coached by her father, the Olympian Jason Tunks. Her younger sister Jenna also competes in athletics and won the Canadian U20 Championships in the discus throw in 2024 and 2025.[17]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Julia Tunks". World Athletics. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "Julia Tunks ready to follow Olympian dad Jason's discus-tossing footsteps". lfpress. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ↑ "How a London, Ont., gym is breeding a new generation of Olympians". cbc.ca. 13 March 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ↑ "Canadian Championships". World Athletics. 30 July 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "Pan American U20 Championships". World Athletics. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "World Athletics U20 Championships". World Athletics. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "18-year-old shatters Canada's oldest women's track and field record". Running Magazine. 7 April 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ↑ "Oklahoma Throws Series". World Athletics. 6 April 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "Sport notes: Julia Tunks smashes record; Detroit Lions eye London return". London Free Press. 5 August 2025. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
- ↑ "Canadian Championships". World Athletics. 30 July 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "Nacac Championships". World Athletics. 16 August 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 13 September 2025. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
- ↑ Dickinson, Marley (28 August 2025). "Athletics Canada names 59 athletes to 2025 World Championships team". Running Magazine. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
- ↑ "MADISON WHYTE RUNS NINTH-FASTEST NCAA 400 ALL-TIME AT MT. SAC RELAYS". Dye Stat. 18 April 2026. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
- ↑ "PREVIEW: 10 ATHLETES TO WATCH AT THE CANADIAN TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026". Runnerspace. 16 June 2026. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
- ↑ "ATHLETICS TEAM NAMED FOR 2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES". Athletics.ca. 24 June 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Lale, Brent (6 August 2025). "Mackay, Tunks capture gold, shatter records at Canadian championships". ctvnews.ca. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
