TOKYO, Japan—The first day of Athletics competition at the Tokyo Olympics was on Friday and two Villanova alumni competed in their respective events at Olympic Stadium. The first on the track was women's middle distance runner Siofra Cleirigh Buttner (Ireland) who made her Olympics debut running in the heats of the 800 meters. Later in the evening men's distance runner Patrick Tiernan (Australia) raced in the 10000 meters in his second Olympics competition.
 
Cleirigh Buttner competed in the 800 meter heats on Friday morning in Tokyo which was Thursday night in primetime in the United States. She ran in the fourth heat and finished seventh in her race with a time of 2:04.62. The top three finishers in each heat and the next six fastest times advanced to the semifinal round. Cleirigh Buttner recorded identical splits of 1:02.3 on each of her two laps around the oval in a section that included three of the top 35 ranked runners in the world in the 800 meters.
 
Friday morning's race on the world stage was just the latest step in Cleirigh Buttner's progression as a top middle distance runner. After an All-American collegiate career at Villanova, she has continued to develop as a professional and already this year has set an Irish record in the 800 meters (2:00.58), competed at the European Athletics Indoor Championships and tallied a personal best mark of 4:09.67 in the 1500 meters. Cleirigh Buttner was one of the favorites in the 800 meters at the Irish Life Health National Senior Championships last month and came away with a silver medal.
 
The first medal race in Athletics in Tokyo was the men's 10000 meters on Friday night. The event is a straight final and was run in extremely hot and humid conditions despite going off at 8:30 p.m. local time in Tokyo. It was 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) when the field of 25 runners took the track for the start of the race. Tiernan finished 19^th with a season-best time of 28:35.06 and will be back in competition next week for the heats of the 5000 meters.
 
Friday night's conditions made for a deliberate pace most of the way through the 25 laps around the track. In a sight that would be familiar to any Wildcats track & field fan, Tiernan ran a smart and calculated race right up to the final lap. He settled into a comfortable pace from the start, posting a split of 14:12.4 over his first 5000 meters while biding his time near the back of the tightly packed field. The race was a physical one as the heat and occasional jostling for position in the pack gradually wore down the competitors.
 
Tiernan made a move through the ranks to put himself into 14^th place with 2000 meters left and into ninth place with 1000 meters to go. Nearly the entire field was still in contention with two laps left when the race turned into an 800 meter sprint. A leading group separated itself from the rest of the field at the sound of the bell and Tiernan wound up 19^th overall after a gritty run in his second career Olympics race.
 
Still to come for Tiernan are the heats of the 5000 meters next Tuesday. Tiernan made his Olympics debut in 2016 when he raced in the 5000 meters in London and nearly made the final while still a collegian. The two heats of the 5000 meters on Tuesday in Tokyo go off at 8 p.m. and 8:20 p.m. local time, which will be early Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. and 7:20 a.m. Eastern time.
 
There is more action to come for Villanovans in Tokyo, with the triathlon mixed relay next up. That competition is set for 7:30 a.m. in Tokyo which will be at 6:30 p.m. on Friday evening Eastern time. Summer Rappaport, who earlier this week tallied a 14^th place finish in the women's individual triathlon, is one of four competitors for the United States in the mixed relay on Saturday morning. Rappaport will take the first leg of the relay, in which all four competitors swim 300 meters, cycle for eight kilometers and run for two kilometers. A competition generally lasts approximately 90 minutes.