Our favourite weekend activity? Watching Canada’s next generation of elite athletes raise the bar. And on Sunday at the Oklahoma Throws Series in Ramona, Okla., 18-year-old Julia Tunks of London, Ont., did exactly that. Opening her season with a monstrous toss of 62.95m, Tunks shattered the Canadian discus record of 62.72m–a mark that stood unchallenged for 45 years and was the longest-standing women’s national track and field record.
Tunks dominated the meet, winning by more than two metres and surpassing her previous personal best–and former U20 national record–by nearly 90 centimetres. Her throw currently ranks as the seventh-farthest in the world this year, and will likely secure her spot within the selection quota for September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
With this performance, Tunks now holds the U18, U20 and senior Canadian records in the discus. The previous senior record was set in August 1979 by Canadian-Romanian Olympic thrower Carmen Ionesco.
An impressive resume
Tunks has already made waves internationally. She placed seventh at the U20 World Championships in Lima, Peru, last August, and, at just 17, she took gold at the 2023 Pan American U20 Championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Her growing medal collection also includes national gold (2023) and silver (2024), along with double gold in the discus and shot put from the 2024 OFSAA Championships.
Tunks and her sister Jenna are both coached by their father, Jason Tunks, a retired Canadian discus thrower and three-time Olympian; his national record of 67.88 has stood since 1998.
