An excellent second-round effort of 69.70 metres secured the gold medal for Ireland’s Nicola Tuthill in the under-23 hammer at the European Throwing Cup in Nicosia, Cyprus on Sunday morning, a first Irish title in the event which has been running since 2001.
Tuthill had already claimed silver medals in the hammer in the last two editions, and the 21-year-old from Bandon in Cork made sure of gold this time, her 69.70m clear of Sweden’s Thea Lofman, who threw 69.06m, with Germany’s Aileen Kuhn winning bronze with a throw of 67.25m.
After qualifying for the Paris Olympics last summer at age 20 – she doesn’t turn 22 until December – it continues the steady progress for Tuthill, who will now target qualification for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo later this summer.
Anna Gavigan also won a silver medal on Saturday in the women’s under-23 discus, throwing a personal best of 53.91m behind Marie Josee Bovele Linaka from France, who threw 57.37m, on later on Sunday, Oisín Joyce won bronze in the Under-23 javelin, producing a mark of 73.86m with his last throw. Gold went to Nick Thumm from Germany with a best throw of 77.09 m, with silver going to Lucio Claudio Visca from Italy with his 74.39m.
Ireland’s Nicola Tuthill wins under-23 hammer gold at European Throwing Cup
On Athletics: Every athlete must choose their own pathway to success, in sport and life
Sarah Healy on becoming European Indoor champion: ‘I knew people thought I was capable of a lot more’
From Apeldoorn to Nanjing, Kate O’Connor chases another podium place at the World Indoor Championships
Meanwhile, it emerged overnight that both Mark English and Cian McPhillips have withdrawn from next weekend’s World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, reducing the Irish team from eight to six athletes.
After winning a fifth European medal, and third indoors, English was looking to add a global medal to his name in Nanjing, but an illness picked up in the aftermath of his bronze medal run in Apeldoorn last Sunday has now ruled him out
“Massively disappointing for me personally,” said English, who turns 32 next Tuesday. “But I want to wish the team and my Fast 8 Track Club team-mates travelling the very best of luck.”
McPhillips took a heavy fall in his 800m heat in Apeldoorn, and although he did take his place in the semi-final was clearly off his best. It’s since emerged he sustained a stress fracture, which will rule the 22-year-old out of running for several months.
Sarah Healy and Kate O’Connor are sill looking to build on their medal success from Apeldoorn. Healy travels to Nanjing on Sunday after a short training camp in Dubai following her gold medal run in the 3,000m last Sunday. The event in Nanjing will be run as a straight final next Saturday, with no qualifying.
O’Connor, who won the pentathlon bronze last Sunday, will essentially face the same field as Apeldoorn.
Sophie O’Sullivan will also head to Nanjing on Sunday after winning a road race in Japan on Saturday. She is entered in the 1,500m, with Andrew Coscoran entered in the both the 1,500m and 3,000m. James Gormley is entered in the 3,000m only, and Sarah Lavin the 60m hurdles, after finishing fourth in Apeldoorn last weekend.
The World Indoor Championships are a sort of bonus competition in 2025. Nanjing, the capital of China’s eastern Jiangsu province, was originally due to host them in 2020, then in 2021, and then again in 2023, only all these dates were cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic regulations in China. Ireland haven’t won any medal at the World Indoors since Derval O’Rourke struck gold in Moscow in the 60m hurdles back in 2006.
