This post was originally written by WJBR Digital Production Intern, Joy Paganucci. Paganucci is a senior Media Communications Honors student at the University of Delaware from New York, NY. Along with being a Digital Content Intern for WJBR, Paganucci also works as Executive Producer for Real Talk, a show on the UD Student Television Network and as an Oral Communications Consultant in the UD Writing Center.
A Class of 2015 Graduate from Charter School of Wilmington, Kieran Tuntivate, has become the first Thai athlete to compete in the 10,000-meter run at the Olympics. He qualified for Tokyo 2020 with his time of 27:17.14, easily beating Thailand’s national record. The now 24 year old athlete was born in Washington DC to a Thai father and American mother. His senior year of high school he competed in the 800 Meters, 1600 Meters, 3200 Meters, 4×400 Relay, and 4×800 Relay competitions for the Outdoor Season.
Before attending Harvard, his mile time was an impressive 4:11.58. He majored in economics at Harvard and competed on the Track and Field team. After college, Tuntivate went pro with the Bowerman Track Club, specializing in the 10,000 meter. His collegiate bests are listed below. You can find more of his college racing history, here.
Collegiate Bests:
- 800m – 1:59.17
- 1000m – 2:28.14
- 1500m – 4:00.72
- Mile – 3:57.36
- 3000m – 7:49.15
- 5000m – 13:57.60
- 10,000m – 28:45.61
- 3000S – 9:20.87
Tuntivate’s first major international competition was at the 2018 Asian Games, where he finished in fourth place for the 10,000 meters with a time of 30:29.04. Following, he won the 5000 and 10000 meters at the Southeast Asian Games in 2019. According to Sean Greene at WDEL.com, on August 22, 2020, Tuntivate also set the Delaware outdoor record at Saint Marks High School with a mile time of 4:02.1. The men’s 10,000-meter run at the Tokyo Olympics will take place on Friday, July 30.