Takale Tuna
SPORT: Athletics
EVENTS: 100m, 200m and 400m
DATE OF BIRTH: 17th January 1965
ORIGIN: Matupit Island, East New Britain Province
Takale Tuna made his mark in the sport of Athletics after his athletic potential was identified by the PNG Athletics fraternity at the 1985 National Championships held in Port Moresby.
From Boisen High School, where he set the stage for fellow athletes Ezekiel Wartovo and Peter Pulu who would follow in his footsteps just a few years later, to Keverat National High School and then to Goroka Teachers College, Takale grew his love for running. It was at Kerevat National High School that his career started to be more structured under the direction of Bruce Sowter. Whilst at Goroka Teachers College, Takale improved vastly under the guidance of his new coach Tom Brandt and was ready for the big time.
In his first Team PNG representation, Takale recorded National and Pacific Games Records in the 100m, 200m and 400m events at the 1985 Mini South Pacific Games in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. This was the first of many Games he would represent Team PNG in. In 1988, Takale was given the prestigious opportunity to be the 3rd Olympic flag bearer for Team PNG at the Seoul Olympic Games. He
competed in the 200m and 400m events, advancing to the quarter finals in the 400m event.
Takale competed in two South Pacific Games. First, being the 1987 South Pacific Games in Noumea, New Calodonia, where he claimed Silver in the 100m and Gold in the 200m and 400m events – these were Team PNG Athletics’ only gold medals at this Games.
And secondly at the 1991 South Pacific Games in Port Moresby, where he produced more great results on home soil, winning 3x Gold medals (200m, 4x100m, 4x400m) and 2x Silver medals (100m, 400m). The sensational time of 3min 09.55 seconds ran by the 4x400m Relay Team was (and still is) a Pacific Games Record and was a qualifying time for the 1992 Olympic Games. Their performance broke the National Record, the PNG All-Comers and the Pacific Islands Best Performance time.
At the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, he made the second round of both the 200m and 400m events. His other achievements included winning Silver at the 1984 Pacific School Games in Melbourne after being narrowly beaten by Miles Murphy, who later became the Australian National Record Holder and Seoul Olympian, and winning the 1989 Queensland State Titles in the 200m and 400m events.
He also made the finals in the 200m and 100m events at the 1991 Australian National Championships and also represented PNG at the IAAF World Championships, and two IAAF World Cups.
He is ranked #4 on the PNG All Time Best List for the 100m with his time of 10.60 seconds, 2nd for the 200m with his time of 21.18 seconds, which was the National Record for 20 years, and 6th for the 400m event with his time of 47.24 seconds. He has held the National Records for the 100m (broken by Ezekiel Wartovo 1990), 200m (broken by Nelson Stone, 2015) and the 400m (broken by Subul Babo, 1991) events for Papua New Guinea.
Takale Tuna made such an impact in sports in Papua New Guinea, especially in the sport of Athletics with 13 National Titles and 6 PacificGames gold and 3 silver medals.
