Former Banting Bronco kicks up his heels at Sydney Games

By JIM KERNAGHAN -- Free Press Sports Columnist
 SYDNEY -- It's a long, long way from a high school smoking pit in London to an Olympic Games final and Jason Tunks covered a lot of it in a hurry Sunday.

 The former Banting secondary school student, plucked from an early morning crowd by teacher and eventual coach John Allen as a 15-year-old, qualified for the discus final with a powerful first throw, firing the dinner plate 64.40 metres to finish sixth among the 12 who qualified from a field of 46.

 Bang, he was in.

 It is an unforgiving sport, this. Every sport here is, of course, only with declining levels of angst. In the throws, you can be up and down and out before the audience takes a seat.

 It's like a pitcher getting three pitches. In this case, at least one of them had better be a major league one.

 Tunks' was a strike.

 So quick was the fellow from Banting that he qualified and was out the door to do a little training for Tuesday's final, like a pro golfer hitting the practice range or putting green after holing out at three under.

 His reaction was the same as all the top throwers here, people like Germany's Lars Riedel, Olympic Games record-holder (Atlanta, 69.40 metres): "I can do better."

 Riedel's heave ranked first at 68.15 metres, with South African Frantz Kruger at 67.54. Third was Virgilius Alekna of Lithuania at 67.10 metres.

 Tunks has throws that put him in the same company as the leaders. Two years ago, the 271-pounder uncorked a fling of 67.88 metres.

 Sunday was a far cry from four years ago, when he felt he'd let himself and everyone else down in Atlanta.

 One Olympics later, he burst through with his timely effort, this one borne of strength and maturity.

 In between the time Allen called the young giant over that day in high school and now, life has been pretty eventful.

 A scholarship at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a host of Canadian championships and records, a move from shot put solely to discus, it has been active.

 There have been downsides that became upsides. While training once, he was struck by a shot thrown by a female athlete.

 The cannon ball hit his shoulder, damaging it, and bounced up and smashed a couple of teeth.

 The positive side is he married his unintentional assailant, Teri Steer, who is now his most ardent supporter.

 Along the way there have been injuries like a strained back, ankle surgery and even a bacterial infection.

 The Atlanta Olympic debut was a tough one.

 His performance wasn't embarrassing. Embarrassing is when you hit the support of the cage, like poor Mike Conjungo of the Central African Republic did yesterday, or fire one that richochets off the side of the cage and never goes an inch, like Chary Manedov of Turkmenistan.

 Last Olympics in Atlanta, a 21-year-old Tunks was heartbroken when he failed to qualify.

 World junior champ Zoltan Kovago, 21, likely felt worse yesterday when his first throw fluttered wildly out of bounds.

 In Atlanta, veterans felt Tunks was a comer who would iron things out as he approaches his optimum age.

 Yesterday, he could have offered that advice.

 Meanwhile, Toronto's Adrian Woodley finished fourth in his heat Sunday to advance to the next round in the 110-metre hurdles at the Games.

 Woodley, 24, finished in 13.71 seconds in a heat won by Colin Jackson of Britain in 13:38.

 The top four in each heat qual-ified for the next round Sunday night.

 -- with Canadian Press files