THE outdoor track season may be just getting underway but one athlete – Nicola Tuthill from Bandon – has already been in record-breaking form and one of those performances has seen her honoured with the Cork City Sports Athletic Person of the Month Award for March.

At the European Throwing Cup in Leira, Portugal, that month she produced a personal best hammer throw of 64.44m to secure a brilliant silver medal in the U23 competition. This effort was especially praiseworthy given that Nicola suffered a very nasty shoulder/elbow injury at the same venue last year.

Then, at the Irish Universities T&F Championships held at the DSD complex in Dublin on April 22, Tuthill, representing UCD, improved on that with a massive throw of 65.74m.

Already qualified for the European U23 championships in Finland in July, this performance – achieved in very wet and windy conditions - moves her to second on the Irish senior all-time list behind Eileen O’Keeffe’s national record of 73.21m which has stood since 2007.

Returning to the same competition and venue in Poland where she sustained an injury 12 months before, the 19-year-old was delighted with her performance: “Going out there I didn’t know what to expect but as I had the training done I was feeling good. Last year, I got my leg caught and fell and dislocated and fractured my elbow. So definitely a better result this year.” 

This is the second time the Bandon athlete has won the coveted monthly award. Back in September 2020, then aged 16, she was honoured for her victory at the National Junior Championships, three weeks after she took the senior title with a throw of 60.04m which had moved her to sixth on the Irish all-time list.

Her performance in Poland in March saw Tuthill receive a glowing tribute on the European Athletics website which stated that were it not for a final round effort of 65.51m by Ukraine’s former European U18 and U20 Champion Valeriya Ivanenko-Kyrylina, Tuthill could have been celebrating gold.

“However, it still puts the Irish athlete firmly in the frame as a contender at the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo, Finland from July 13-16,” it said, along with quoting her on how she first got involved with hammer throwing after attending an athletics camp hosted by Bandon AC.

Growing up on a dairy farm her commitment to her new vocation was secured when her parents created a training area on the farm dedicated to her sport. 

"Progression has been swift and since representing Ireland at the 2021 European Athletics U20 Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, she reached the final at last year’s World Athletics U20 Championships in Cali, Colombia placing eighth."

Her improvement can already be seen this season with two new personal bests already achieved.

"Training has been going very well. Plenty of throwing, plenty of gym. I’m getting a bit stronger and I am in college now in University College Dublin. It’s a bit of a change, but I am happy there. Everything seems to have come on a bit."

She can now look forward to a full season of hammer throwing culminating with the European U23 Championships in Finland the weekend before the 70th Cork City sports which takes place a few days later on Thursday, July 20.

The Cork City Sports Athletics Person of the Month Awards are sponsored by the River Lee, 96&C103FM, The Echo, Cork Crystal and Leisureworld.