Toowoomba Olympian Patrick Tiernan battles fatigue in final

It may not be the legacy he wants to leave in athletics but Patrick Tiernan has cemented his place in Australian folklore. We spoke to the Toowoomba runner’s parents after they saw their son drag himself off the ground to finish the Tokyo Olympics 10,000m final.

ON TRACK: Toowoomba’s Patrick Tiernan (left) races in the 10,000m final at the Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Getty Images

ATHLETICS: The sight of their son Patrick falling to the ground in the Tokyo Olympics men’s 10,000m final was heartbreaking and shocking for parents Karen and Jim Tiernan.

Up until that point on the last lap of the race Patrick was looking strong sitting in ninth place and in touching distance of the race’s leaders before falling in the last 300m.

Television footage showed Patrick falling to the ground once but his parents discovered in a phone call he fell earlier as well.

“We spoke to him on Saturday and he’s looking a lot better compared to how he was after the race,” mum Karen Tiernan said.

“He told us he is feeling a lot better but still a bit dehydrated.

“It was heartbreaking seeing him like that.

“He told us he knew he had problems with about 350m to go in the race.

“We didn’t know what happened earlier until he told us about it.

“All we knew was he’d fallen off the pace before we saw that last fall.”

Karen Tiernan said Patrick and his coach were prepared for the heat of Tokyo – but the conditions and the way the race was run made it all that little bit harder.

“He’s obviously a bit disappointed with how things went,” she said.

“His plan was always to try and keep in touch with the front for as long as possible but it was quite difficult with the way the front runner were speeding up and slowing down all the time.

“But at the same time he said to us ‘if I didn’t have a go. I’d never know’.

“In the end we’re just so pleased and relieved he was able to finish.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to watch that race again though.”

Patrick is scheduled to race in the 5000m final on Tuesday and will make a decision based on his recovery in the coming days.