Posted: June 15, 2007

Athletics: Lieja Tunks breaks Canadian Women’s Shot Put Record which stood since 1979

OTTAWA – Lieja Tunks of London, Ontario broke the Canadian women’s shot put record at the Papendal Games in Arnhem, Netherlands on Wednesday. Lieja finished second in the meet with a throw of 17.83 metres shattering the previous record of 17.17 metres set by Carmen Ionescu in 1979. The record is pending Athletics Canada approval. Obtaining her Canadian citizenship June 26 2006, it took Lieja less than one-year to put her name in the Canadian record books. Lieja is married to Jason Tunks - Canadian discus throw record holder. Lieja and Jason met at a meet in Germany in 1999 and started dating in 2001. They married the following year. In 2006 the couple celebrated the birth of their first child, Julia. The Papendal Games featured other Canadian athletes including Charles Allen from Ottawa who finished first in the 110 metre hurdles with a time of 13.91 seconds. Other Canadian performances at the Papendal Games included: · Jason Wurster from Toronto finished seventh in the pole vault with a jump of 5.01 metres · Jason Tunks of London, ON threw 59.28 metres in the discus placing second · Trevor Snyder finished second in the javelin throw with a distance of 71.65 metres Athletics Canada is the national sport governing body for the sport of track and field including cross-country running and road running. Its purpose is the pursuit of leadership, development and competition that ensures world-level performance in athletics. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest